Once Upon a Ring
by Aaron Ledgers
Summary: Katie is an antisocial albino with bizarre psychic abilities and a warped sense of reality thanks to years of ongoing abuse. However, everything changes on the day that a strangely beautiful man tries to kidnap her: when a group of demonic wraiths attack her school, Kate is dragged kicking and screaming to Middle Earth through a one-way portal that opens out on the Atlantic Ocean.
1. Chapter 1: A Normal Day

**Disclaimer and Author's note: ***I don't own J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, but I'd like to say just one thing about the main protagonist, Katie Sanders, before you continue reading this. To start off, she is NOT an OC: she truly exists and she honestly went through a lot of the things you're about to set eyes on. So, please be gentle, because her history and some of the events I'm going to be writing about are based on her thoughts, feelings, and sadly enough, actions. Anyway, this is going to be a very, very long story, so kick back and relax.

Also, as a side note, the story won't progress to Middle Earth until around chapter eight: Part One is literally the prologue to this enormous tale.

* * *

><p><strong>THE FELLOWSHIP: ONCE UPON A RING<strong>

**Dedicated to Katherine and Nathaniel Sanders**

**PART ONE: MODERN EARTH**

"Friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life.  
>And thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine."<br>**—Thomas Jefferson—**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter One: A Normal Day<br>**

_The first thing she noticed was the darkness._

_It was pitch black but smelled damp and musty… almost like the air of an old cellar. It seemed oddly familiar to her, even though she couldn't recall ever being in such a place. The mustiness of this void was also accompanied by a faint metallic scent that burned her nose… copper…? Or was it blood? The sound of water droplets falling into a puddle echoed from somewhere deep within the cold shadows, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand up. Upon sitting up, she felt something soft slide over her bare shoulders and paused… she knew what it was... it was hair… yes, it was definitely her hair. She could remember that much._

_Her hair was white, and extremely long according to her brother. _

_Wait... brother? _

_Who was her brother? _

_Better yet, where on earth was she?_

_"Where am I…?" Kate whispered, touching her forehead in groggy confusion. "How did I get here?"_

_After feeling around in the dark, her small hands were met with the sensation of slick, wet bricks sliding across her fingertips: she couldn't remember anything, but she knew that this must have been part of the walls surrounding her. Slowly getting up from the cold stone floor, the girl felt around and tried to create an image in her head like a blind person would. _

_The place was eerily silent to the point where her shallow breathing seemed too loud. _

_Yet, despite the fact there was no sound other than her breathing, the girl somehow felt as though someone else was here in the dark – someone who was watching her move around with unfriendly eyes. Her small hand slipped on the slick wall when a set of footsteps echoed through the air directly in front of her… almost as though someone were walking down a long hall just on the other side of a nearby wall. Ignoring her blindness, the tiny girl hurried towards the source of the sound with her small hand still feeling for a door. _

_When her fingers slid across a metal surface, her heart skipped a beat._

_When she finally found a knob... she twisted it with all of her strength and shoved._

_The moment the door opened wide… the world around her dissolved with a blinding light and she suddenly found herself staring at a galaxy that had been dotted with millions upon millions of flickering stars. Nothing else was surrounding her except for that night sky: she was floating in an emptiness that seemed to stretch onwards until the end of time. _

_"Where am I?" she whispered, slowly looking around as her voice echoed away into the void of stars; her cloud-white hair slid around her body in soft tendrils as she gazed at everything, drifting in a weightless manner. A bright flash of light suddenly lit up the world around her, stirring the stars like ripples in a pond. _When it faded, she beheld a handsome woman with extraordinarily long hair standing upon a rock in the middle of a liquid surface. Somehow, Katie knew she'd seen this lady somewhere once before... and even though she couldn't remember why, she knew that this woman was powerful. __

_"Who are you?" Katherine whispered, staring at the woman from her spot in the swirling starlight. "Where are we? Why are we here?"  
><em>

_"It is has been a long time, dear child," the woman stated in a lilting voice, staring at her face with gentle blue eyes. "You are no longer who you once were, but your soul and your heart are the same. Great danger is coming for you... you must not be pulled into the stream of fate, for if you do... your History will repeat itself."_

_"My... history?" Katie asked, staring at the woman with blank eyes. "What do you mean? Who are you?"_

_The woman merely stared at her with eyes that seemed wise beyond their age: with an otherworldly grace, the gorgeous blonde lifted her hand... _

_And horrifying visions instantly burned their way into Katherine's mind._

_Her pupils dilated and she shrieked, clutching her head as flashes of horrifying monsters slitting the throats of screaming men and women roared through her head. Flashes of death... destruction, fire... her pink eyes widened when she beheld visions of crows feasting on the bloodied rotting flesh, and she choked when their black feathers started raining down upon the blood-soaked earth. _

_"Do not return," the blonde woman stated, lowering her arm with a solemn air. "You mustn't return to this Land. Your life here ended one thousand years ago."_

_"W-what are you saying?!" Katie shrieked, staring at the woman with a horrified expression. "Who ARE you?!"_

_However, she froze and stared at something just beyond the spot where the blonde woman was standing. The stars around her were rippling... but then, in a single moment, they were burned away in a searing wave of heat and time somehow slowed down. Katie's silver hair was blasted away from her body in a weightless manner and her heart flew up her throat when a giant cat's eye made of fire rose behind the flickering blonde woman. She squeaked and clamped up like a mouse when the pupil contracted into a catlike slit and landed on her shaking form. _

_The heat from its evil gaze made her heart quiver violently._

_However... a hellish voice soon drowned out the sound of the woman in front of her and it made the girl's amethyst eyes widen._

_"**I see you...**" the hellish voice whispered, making the girl's heart nearly stop as a jolt of icy terror swept through it. Katie covered her ears with a shriek and tried not to listen anymore, but the voice was echoing inside her head rather than outside of it. "**I see you... I see you...**" _

"—ate!" a muffled voice called.

_"Get away from me!" Katherine shrieked, shaking her head and slowly whirling around despite being caught in the fiery wind. "Help! Someone, help me!"_

_"Tauriel!" the woman called, voice fading and filling with static. "Do not... fate... history... change... the gateway!"_

_Katherine's long hair drifted around as the heat from the Eye's gaze fell across her body... and all of a sudden, she couldn't move._

_Her amethyst eyes started turning yellow from the inside out, glowing like a demon's despite her terrified expression._

_She could feel the fires of evil spreading throughout her soul._

_"Someone... help... me..." Katie whimpered, unable to move or do anything as her life was extinguished by the fires of hell. "Nathan... help..."_

_"**I see you... I see you... I see you...**" the demonic voice chanted, chuckling in a gravelly tone when Katie's body began to glow yellow. "**I've found you!**"_

_"No!" she whimpered, slowly falling to her knees when a burning pain started to sear through her back. "You're... wrong! You're lying! I believe in God, you horrible demon! So... so... in the name of Jesus Christ, leave me alone!"_

_However, when two enormous wings exploded from her back in a spray of crimson, the girl's lungs caught and she let loose a scream of agonized fright. _

_"**Come to me!**" the eye hissed; the blonde woman's blue eyes slowly widened when Katie's hair started lifting towards the sky and her body erupted with a wave of brilliant blue fire. "**Come back to the fires of Mor—**"_

"KATE ASHLEY! GET UP!" someone roared, voice a little muffled. "NATHANIEL! COME GET YOUR SKANKY LITTLE SISTER OUT OF BED, OR SO HELP ME GOD, I'LL STRANGLE HER!"

With a violent jolt, Katie's eyes snapped open wide and she gasped, frantically looking around her room with a palpitating heart. Her breathing was ragged and uneven as she took in her familiar surroundings. After a few moments of trying to calm her racing pulse, the albino girl slowly sat up and touched her forehead: strands of her silver hair were plastered against her cheeks and neck due to the cold sweat that had enveloped her entire body.

"It was just a dream…" she whispered hoarsely, closing her eyes. "It was only another nightmare. Not real. Thank God..."

"Kate!" Nate loudly called, banging on her door. "Kate, come on! Get up! The old bitch is in a really bad mood today!"

"Kate Ashley!" a female voice shrieked from somewhere far below. "Get your ass out of that bed right now or swear I'll beat your fucking ass! I mean it! And Nate, you'll be sleeping outside tonight if you don't do what I say!"

"What'd I tell ya," Nate muttered, opening the door and sliding inside her room with a weary expression on his face. "She threatened me, too."

When the boy turned around and looked at her, Kate was once again struck with the odd sensation that she was looking at her mirror image: her twin looked almost exactly like her in every way aside from his broader shoulders, more pronounced jaw, and taller stature. His facial features were very thin and soft like hers were, and his eyes had the exact same shape as her own, but there was something very masculine about his face when it was compared with hers. Regardless of that fact, whenever the twins were standing side by side, they looked nearly identical: there were only subtle differences in both of their appearances.

"This is rare," Kate stated quietly, staring at her brother with blank eyes. "You hardly ever come into my room."

"Just hurry up and get dressed!" Nate snapped, folding his arms before turning around. "I'm not leaving your room until you're ready, all right?! I don't want to sleep outside tonight, and Toni threatened to put me out there if I didn't get you up within three minutes. That stupid bitch apparently thinks you'll listen better if I'm the one doing all the nagging!"

Kate's eyes widened and she bolted out of bed: the last thing she wanted was to get beat up first thing in the morning.

More importantly, she didn't want to give Nate another reason to hate her.

After furiously rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, the girl brushed her thigh-length hair and pulled her bangs behind her head, expertly tying them in place with a large black ribbon. Kate then slipped on her school clothes, and after making a few adjustments to her Academy uniform, she buttoned her blazer, zipped up her knee-length skirt, and hastily grabbed her bag.

"I'm amazed by how quickly you did that," Nate sneered, averting his eyes. "You're starting to act like Emily."

Kate's heart skipped a beat and her stomach tied itself into a painful knot at the statement: she wanted to let out a protest, but her throat locked up and she merely remained silent since there really was nothing she could say to counter his words. Even though she and her twin were completely identical aside from their genders, the boy hated her more than the families they'd been forced to live with over the years. The two of them had all of the same tastes and were extremely similar in personality… but Nate hated Kate to the point where he'd sided with her enemies instead of protecting her from them.

"If Toni would give us more than two minutes to get ready, we'd actually be on time," Kate quietly replied, ignoring his statement about their elder sister. "I've always been a klutz, Nate, so doing this so quickly isn't as easy as it looks… trust me."

"Shut up," Nate grunted, lifting his violet eyes and glaring at her hair, "and while you're at it, take the damn ribbon out of your hair."

"No," Kate retorted softly, not meeting his gaze. "Emily was the one who gave it to me."

"That's precisely why I don't like it," the boy snarled, making her flinch. "You're trying to be like her! It pisses me off! It's your fault she died, remember? You have no right to idolize her, so take the fucking ribbon out of your hair!"

"No," Kate weakly repeated, turning away from him and folding her arms. "I didn't kill her, Nate: I only saw it beforehand. It wasn't my fault."

"Bullshit!" Nate hissed, stomping past the girl. "I really hope something horrible happens to you today."

Kate flinched and closed her eyes when he slammed the door shut and thumped down the stairs, but once she was able to shake off the pain coursing through her heart, the girl darted out of her room and ran past her angry-eyed foster mother.

The woman already had a bottle of Bud Light in her hands.

"Hold it right there, you little shit!" Toni snapped, clutching her arm; the girl winced a bit when the woman's fingers dug into her skin, but she stopped running long enough to look at the woman. "I got a call from your teacher yesterday asking if your hair and eye color were natural, so tell your brother that he needs to pick up a double set of colored contacts from the market today. I'm also taking both of you to dye your hair blonde this afternoon!"

"Huh?!" the girl squeaked, eyes widening in horror. "T-Toni, you can't! Our eyes are too sensitive for contacts, and our hair will fall out if you try to dye it! It won't work, and I am _not_ walking around completely bald because of you!"

"I'm not saying you have to!" the woman snapped, thrusting the girl forward with both hands. "If it's not possible, we'll find a way to do a temporary dye! Now get going and don't be late! If I get a call saying you were tardy, I'll fuck you up!"

Kate smacked her cheek on the corner of the door in an attempt to catch her balance, but once she was outside she sprinted down the city streets as fast as she could go: this part of her day was the trickiest since she had to walk three miles each morning without being late for her first class. Toni wouldn't pay for her get on a bus—but to be frank, the girl was somewhat glad it had turned out this way since she loved to run.

Running made her dream of the day she could keep going without needing to stop.

However, when she was about halfway to her destination, Kate made it to the East River Overpass on Saint Matthew's BLVD and spotted her twin stopping in front of a pretty brunette wearing their academy uniform. She instantly slowed to a halt and gazed at the two of them, heart growing heavy when they leaned against the metal railing and started talking to each other.

Her brother was smiling.

The last time she'd seen that smile had been almost six years ago.

She stood there, feeling as though she were going to shatter into pieces, and watched as her brother chatted with the brunette at his side.

_He hates me,_ Katherine realized, feeling her chest tightening; her eyes slowly filled with tears and she lowered her head. _He really hates me... if he can smile at other people like that with no problem, there's no other explanation for it. _

She stood there for an immeasurable amount of time, muscles trembling and heart burning: during that time, her brother and the brunette walked away holding each other's hands. When they finally turned around the corner and vanished from sight, Kate unhappily turned away and looked out at the East River with haunted violet eyes: she had always known that her brother blamed her for what had happened. He didn't need her at all... nor did he want to be anywhere near her.

He was always saying that he wished something bad would happen to her.

Slowly climbing up onto the bridge railing, the girl sat down on the edge of it and looked out at the canal, pondering whether or not she should try jumping off of it. She'd wanted to die for a long time now, but she was too much of a coward: she couldn't take action because she was too scared to try.

Then again, who could blame her?

Death was something she had seen up close.

Trying to put herself through it was a frightening thing... and wanting it was even more frightening.

Beyond the canal was the ocean… and since it was a very cold, grey day, she felt as though the sea matched her mood. After a moment of gazing at the endless planes of gray water in front of her, she slid to her feet and took a deep breath. However, someone unexpectedly caught her wrist and she glanced to the left out of the corner of her eye. She felt her breath hitch when she saw a little boy with beautiful golden hair standing behind her: he didn't look any older than ten years old.

He wasn't looking at her, though.

He was staring at the ocean with an unearthly expression on his face, and his fair features seemed abnormally exotic even though nothing about them particularly stood out. Her violet eyes widened when a breeze lifted his locks off his shoulders and into the air. However, the moment she looked at him head on, she jumped when she realized she had been seeing things again: his hair was jet black and his features were plain.

She'd had another odd vision.

When the boy realized she was staring, he looked at her with piercing brown eyes.

"You smell like blood," he stated calmly, examining her with an emotionless visage. "Blood and... sadness."

"W-what?! I do?!" the girl squeaked, looking down at herself with an alarmed expression; then she paused and frowned in confusion. "Hey... that's... that's not a funny joke. You shouldn't say stuff like that to people: it's not funny!"

"You're right... it's not a funny joke at all: it is the truth, and regardless of how unpleasant it seems, I know you've seen one life end by the hand of another," the boy quietly replied, looking at her with a piercing expression and examining her startled face with far-seeing brown eyes. "You've seen things that you shouldn't have seen… you've seen the past, present, and future… you've even seen entire worlds unfold before your eyes, and yet… although your heart holds no evil, you've cast a cloud of misfortune across the ones who are closest to you."

"Um... look, kid, who the hell _are_ you?" Kate whispered, shakily jerking her hand out of the boy's grasp. "What are you talking about?!"

"You're not a witch like everyone says," the boy rambled on, completely ignoring her questions. "You're exactly like me: neither of us truly belong here."

"Huh?" the albino girl scoffed in confusion. "Okay, look: I have no idea what you're talking about, so let me make something clear. I'm a high school student, and I'm not anything special, so quit it with this creepy mumbo-jumbo crap you're spewing... it's freaking me out. Could you, like, leave me alone?"

"You'll know the truth soon enough," he sighed, looking at her with a gentle expression. "Beware: danger is coming for us on wings blacker than night."

"Wait, what?" Kate whispered, heart skipping a beat when she recalled her nightmares. "What danger? And what do you mean by wings blacker than night?"

However, the boy's brown eyes merely flicked upward and he stared at something high above in a spacey manner: before he could say anything more, a black feather fell down in front of Katie's eyes, making the hair on her neck stand up. When a deep thundering sound and a sudden screech unexpectedly split the air far in the distance, the girl jumped and whirled to face the ocean in in alarm.

"You'll see soon enough," the boy murmured quietly, voice fading away. "We _both_ will."

"Quit it with the creeper act!" Kate snapped, staring off at the ocean with blank eyes. "Seriously, didn't you hear that?! What _was_ it?!"

In truth, the screech had sounded like a cross between a banshee's shriek and a raven's croak.

It was like something clean out of a child's nightmare.

The girl slowly rubbed her arms and leaned forward, squinting to see past the fog that was slowly moving across the distant horizon towards landfall.

"What in the world was that?" Kate finally muttered, looking up at the sky. "Seriously, kid, did you even hear it?"

However, the albino girl trailed off once she turned around since the boy she'd been talking to had completely vanished. Katherine instantly blinked and looked around, even going as far as leaning over the edge of the water just in case the crazy boy had jumped off of it. Somehow, he had actually managed to disappear without a single trace, which completely baffled her. However, when Kate stood up on the railing again, she was just about to turn and step onto the bridge when another hand gripped her wrist.

"Hi! It seems we meet yet again," a familiar voice stated, making the girl twitch; she blinked when she was forcibly pulled off the bridge and set flat on her feet without warning. "Still, why is it that every time I see you, you're in a rather dangerous situation? Are you trying to kill yourself or are you just a thrill seeker?"

Kate sighed in irritation when she beheld a clean-cut man who looked to be in his late twenties.

He was staring at her with raised eyebrows, and he was rubbing the stubble on his chin: his short black hair and steel grey eyes made him seem very plain. Sadly, this guy hadn't left her alone since she'd had a vision of him getting into a car accident two weeks ago: she'd stupidly given him a warning about it, and ever since, he'd been popping up out of nowhere at the weirdest of times.

"Honestly, I don't even know anymore," the girl grumbled, folding her arms and ignoring the grey-eyed man standing in front of her. "Why the hell are you here? Are you stalking me or something?"

"Not at all," the man chuckled, making the girl look up at him in disbelief; he was smiling broadly and had an odd gleam in his eyes. "I actually spotted you by chance, that's all."

"And you're acting like you know me... why?" Kate asked suspiciously, giving him a wary stare. "Are you one of those crazy types who has no friends? Because if you are, you're talking to the wrong person: I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not exactly a people person, either."

"Well, that sure is a grim way of looking at things!" the man laughed, slapping his knee. "No, I just wanted to thank you for what you did."

"Well, get on with it then," Katherine deadpanned, wanting nothing more than for him to leave her alone. "I have to get to school."

"Okay, okay," he sighed, then looked around and leaned close to her face, which in turn made her lean away with furrowed brows. "Look... I don't know how you knew what was going to happen to me back then, but your warning actually saved my life. I was curious about what you said to me, so I planned on ignoring my phone during the entire drive to work... but when I got to the stoplight at the crossing of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, I received an important call. The coincidence gave me a terrible start, I'll admit it flat out... but still, I waited, just in case. But then, incredibly, when the light turned green... a runaway bus going sixty miles an hour literally _flew_ across the street and crashed clean into a telephone pole! I swear to god, if it hadn't been for you, I probably would pulled out in front of it. Please, tell me: how did you know?!"

Kate stood there with a grim expression on her face, not meeting his eyes.

"I don't really want to talk about that," Katie retorted, instantly stepping away from him with a fierce glare. "Just be thankful that my premonition saved your life and forget that this ever happened. From here on out, you never met me."

"Premonition?" the man asked, staring at her with a fierce curiosity that made the girl twitch. "Wait, you mean, like... a _psychic_ premonition?"

"Call it what you want, I don't really care," Kate snapped, grabbing her bag and turning on her heel. "Anyway, you came here to thank me, right? Well, here ya go: you're welcome! Now, please go away before I file a restraining order!"

"Aww... don't be like that," the man sighed, giving her a subtle pout. "All I wanted to do was thank you... okay?"

"Do it in a way that doesn't involve interacting with me, then," Kate snapped, giving him a glare. "I don't like people, so go away!"

Just as she was about to storm off, she happened to catch a glimpse of several gleaming white feathers resting on the ground where the mystery boy had been standing. After a moment of staring at them with furrowed brows, Kate had a weird mental flash of six hooded figures standing in a dark classroom and shook her head before jogging towards her school. Still, there were shivers running down her spine and for some reason, she had been thoroughly disturbed by what had transpired.

Not to mention she also had a bad feeling about the guy she kept bumping into: he seemed a little too sketchy for comfort.

By the time she arrived, Kate had wiped all traces of emotion off her face.

Bracing herself behind a wall of isolation, she hefted her backpack and headed through the rusted gates of her 'government sponsored' high school. It was reputed as a private academy, but all of the locals knew it was actually a place for delinquents and orphans who had no parents: the success rate for Ivy Ridge was so low that even the worst of the homeless would cringe.

Katie had arrived a little earlier than usual, so she figured she'd have enough time to rest in the library before her first class started. She couldn't deal with the bullying today: she was extremely tired on top of feeling awful since she'd been having vivid, recurring nightmares for the past three months. Her councilor had told her the bad dreams would pass nearly two weeks ago, but he'd been wrong: they were getting worse. She was going to have a meltdown if anything happened today.

When she walked into the library, however, her irritation dissolved.

This spacious room was almost always empty since the majority of the students in her school liked to slack off and do nothing with their lives.

That's why it had become her sanctuary... and the only person who Katie actually cared about was sitting in it all the time, feeling just as lonely as she was. The librarian never had any visitors, so she was always grinning whenever Katherine showed up. Being smiled at had been nothing more than a fantasy until she'd started attending Ivy Ridge, so for all it's faults, this little bit of joy kind of made up for everything.

"Hello, Miss McKinley," Katie stated softly, catching the attention of the old woman who was dozing off in front of the desk. "Sorry for startling you... I'm here a little earlier today."

"Katherine?" the woman gently asked, grandmotherly brown eyes blooming with warmth. "Well, now, I didn't expect to see you so early. School hasn't even started yet... but then again, I guess that could work to my favor, hmmm? Would you like a cup of hot cocoa?"

"R-really?" Kate peeped, feeling as though the melancholy ache in her heart were already washing away. "Yes, please... thank you, Miss McKinley..."

"Oh, goody! Now, now, don't you worry about it," the woman chuckled, stamping a returned book and watching as the slender albino smoothed her black school skirt; then she got up and walked over to the coffee pot. "I can see you've got another bruise on your cheek... forgive me for prying, but have you been eating properly, Katie? That witch had better be feeding you... oh, and how is your brother?"

"I'm... eating..." Katie reluctantly admitted, widely skirting the topic; it wasn't exactly a lie, since she was always eating in the cafeteria, but home was another story entirely... and she didn't really want to think about it. "And... Nathan is like he usually is: distant."

"Well, don't worry, darling: he'll come around," the librarian sighed, clucking her tongue as she waited for the water to boil. "You know, I used to have the same problems with my son when he was your age: one day, he just clamped up like a turtle and stopped talking to everyone. Nate probably has a crush on someone."

"I doubt that..." Katie mumbled, pulling on a strand of her hair before she sat down with the woman behind the desk. "I already told you about why he acts the way he does. I doubt he'll ever like anybody... especially since everyone apparently thinks I'm a witch."

Shockingly enough, this was the truth: everyone at school, even some of the teachers, believed that Katie was a real life witch due to some bizarre occurrences when she'd somehow managed to predict the future. Although, her looks didn't really help matters, but still. Truthfully, it had all begun in elementary school, before her life had come crumbling down. Back when she'd been little, Katie had always wondered why she and her brother had looked so different from other people. Crowds had always pointed and stared at the twins whenever they'd been out in public, but she'd never really known why until she was much, much older.

Back then, she hadn't realized that colorless eyes, snow-white hair, and unnaturally pale skin weren't normal traits: albinism in general wasn't really normal.

Even her sensitivity to sunlight and the problems with her vision weren't normal: she was genetically defective, according to her doctors.

However, things had been relatively okay until the day she'd told her best friend about the _other_ things that had set her apart from 'normal' people.

You see, Katie was a very perceptive girl, and sometimes she would have dreams that somehow came true later on: it wasn't always accurate, and most of the time she didn't even remember her dreams until the events they'd represented were taking place in reality. On top of that, sometimes she would suddenly know things she shouldn't... or she would randomly gain knowledge about certain events before they actually took place. It was weird, and even her doctors couldn't explain the physics behind it.

She had been tested several times by doctors and parapsychologists alike, but nobody had been able to figure it out.

Unfortunately, the moment she'd let that secret slip, she had been abandoned by her friends and treated as an outcast by her classmates.

Katie never would have believed that her best friend would spread such awful rumors about her, especially since she'd been so reluctant to confess her secret in the first place. It was only because of the fact that she'd started having nightmares that she'd spoken up about it. Having dreams that could come true at any time was terrifying to think about, because for her, a nightmare might not be a nightmare later on.

To put it simply, she was a freak: her brother had no issues with dreams coming true or even visual premonitions, so at the very least... he had mostly been accepted by normal people. However, even though the two of them were twins, they weren't exactly the closest siblings in the world. Quite the contrary, Katie loved her brother so much that it hurt her. He was the main reason why she'd been up on that railing today: he hated her as equally as she loved him, and it was slowly but surely breaking her.

Nate had never stepped in to help when Toni was beating her, nor had he done so when she was being abused by the previous families. He'd sided with the students who'd tormented her in school, and laughed with the kids who'd made her cry; he didn't care about her even a little bit, but the worst part was the fact that Katie couldn't even blame him for it. After all, she was responsible for an accident that had occurred after one of her premonitions: Katie and her brother both truly believed that she'd caused it to happen.

There was no changing her fate, her looks, or her life: she was strange both in body and mind.

And nobody cared.

After a moment of staring at the ground, Katie let go of her hair and pushed her bangs out of her eyes: she honestly hated having long hair, but she needed it to hide the bruises that were always showing up on her back and neck.

"People fear what they don't understand, and what they don't understand is usually different from them," the librarian sighed, catching the girl's attention: for a moment, she'd actually forgotten that she wasn't alone. Katie shook her head before bending over and straightening her knee-high stockings. "That's why they lash out at you, Sweetie: don't let it get to you. And if that Witch hits you again, call me, okay? I won't hesitate to adopt you!"

"I'll try not to, like always," Katie murmured, closing her eyes with a tired sigh, "but it's easier said than done."

"Well, try your hardest, then: you're strong enough to take things the hard way!" the woman sighed. "Anyway, I have something that may cheer you up a bit!"

"Really?" Katie asked, looking up at the woman with somber violet eyes. "What is it?'"

"Lady and gentle-girl, feast your eyes on this: ta-daaaa!" the elderly woman laughed, holding up a weathered book with a proud wink; Katie's mouth slowly opened and she stared at it, not believing her eyes. "It took me a very long time to save up enough money to buy this! It's one of the original copies, too... it's a rarity! And since you're technically the only person on the hold list, I can renew it for as long as you want! No restrictions, no complications, it's yours! Give your friend my regards, okay?"

Katie's eyes watered as she took the book from the librarian and touched the cover with shaking fingers.

"How did you find this thing?!" she whispered, slowly looking up at Miss McKinley. "There are only ten thousand copies in existence! So, how?!"

"Trust me, it wasn't easy," the woman sighed, frowning a little as she thought about it. "I found it only by chance, honestly: I was shopping in Guam during last week's vacation when I spotted the title in a rundown bookstore. They wanted six hundred dollars for that book! I had to work for a little while during my vacation to completely afford it, but in the end, it's here and you're happy. Right?"

Katie didn't respond.

Lately, she had been having extremely sinister nightmares concerning ravens, disembodied voices, blood, and lots of fire. She had been thoroughly disturbed since the dreams were of the recurring variety, but when she'd finally opened up and discreetly spoken to the woman about a 'friend' who was having 'similar' nightmares, she had been startled to learn that the Librarian thought the visions sounded familiar. The result of that conversation had led to the discovery of a rare book with only ten thousand copies.

However, the fact that her nightmares had pointed straight to this book had seriously frightened the girl: she hadn't wanted to think they were real.

"Oh, dear..." Katie whispered, heart dropping through the floor when she flipped the book open to the first page; an evil-looking monster with bat wings and a snake head had been sketched into it. "U-u-um... thank you, Miss McKinley... my... friend will be happy now that we can find out what her dreams mean."

"Oh, you... don't you worry about a thing, little dear," the woman sighed, giving her a grandmotherly grin before she glanced at the clock. "Oh, my! Is it really almost six thirty already?! You should hurry up and get to your first class, otherwise you'll end up being tardy!"

"I can't," the pale girl mumbled, lowering her eyes in dismay. "Alan and his cronies have no qualms about skipping classes, so I'm kind of stuck here. They know I always head for the library each morning, remember? I had to go through the back window last time since they wouldn't go away."

"Oh, is that all? Maybe I can help you," the librarian chuckled, heading over to her desk and opening the top drawer; when she pulled out a tiny key and held it out to Katie, the silver-haired teen frowned and took it with gentle hands. "See? It's good being a teacher's pet now and then!"

"What's this?" Katie hesitantly asked, blinking at the key with a worried expression. "I mean... what does it go to? The window?"

"No, silly, it's the key to the back door," the elderly woman replied, pointing to the door resting at the very back of the library. "It lets out near the drama rooms, and the hallway will take you right to the cafeteria. I'm sure you'll be able to find your way from there, right?"

"Yes... I often go down to the drama rooms to read after school gets out," Katie admitted, stuffing the book into her backpack. "Are you sure you don't mind doing this for me, though? I mean, couldn't you get in trouble for loaning me one of the faculty keys?"

"Not at all, since I know you'd never tattle on me," the old woman giggled, waving a dainty hand. "Get going, kiddo… don't be late for class."

"Okay... thanks again," Katie sighed, giving the woman a rare smile before she jogged towards the door. However, just before she got there, a terrible ache assaulted her and her feet slowed. After a moment, she turned around and clenched her fists. "Um, hey... I... this morning... I..."

"Yes?" Mrs. McKinley asked, blinking at her with a grandmotherly smile. "What is it?"

The girl stood there for a long moment, trying to figure out what she wanted to say in order to make the tightness in her heart go away. Katie opened her mouth, as if she were going to speak, but then she closed it again and lowered her eyes: not long after, her irises became somewhat lifeless and they lost their sheen once again. Shaking her head, she turned away from the confused librarian and unlocked the rear door; the girl blinked when it opened and pocketed the key before giving the librarian a long look.

The woman frowned with worry when the albino stared at her for several moments of silence.

Trying to convey a message that would most likely never get through.

Then she slipped out into the drama corridor, hefting her bag as she prepared to face the worst.

After all... when it came to someone like her, the worst is all she could expect.

Over the years, she'd been told over and over again that she was useless.

That she was good for nothing.

That she was an accident.

That she was a freak.

That she was a witch...

She had been hurt so many times, by so many different people, that she was still kind of surprised that there were still any unknown ways that people could hurt her. It had gotten to the point where she actually expected nothing less: she was completely aware that she was ugly compared to other fifteen-year-old girls, but there was nothing she could do to fix the problems with her looks, so she had accepted herself. Or at least tried to. Not that it would matter if she did, anyway...

After all, she had issues that stretched far beyond being strange.

She was practically a shell of a girl: she couldn't let herself feel or the pain would break her.

It had been ingrained in her heart and her head a long time ago: if you feel, you will break... but if you _don't_ feel, nothing can hurt you.

When the bell rang, Kate woodenly walked inside the building and made her way to the calculus classroom.

Just like always, everyone's eyes fixed on her pale face the moment she stepped inside: Kate shifted uncomfortably under the hostile stares before making her way over to her desk. She could hear the whispers and snickers as she sat down and scooted in, but she tried to pretend like it didn't bother her. To make matters worse, there was a new student sitting in the desk directly behind hers.

Newer students always messed with her more than the older ones did.

"Hey, wake up!" Tiffany Walt, the most popular girl in class, whispered. "It's the witch!"

Kate's eyes went blank at the statement, although she hid her agony upon hearing it fairly well.

"Yeah, it's not smart to sleep near her," another girl named Brittany added. "I've heard that she can give people nightmares and put curses on them!"

"Personally, I think she'd look kind of cute if she didn't try to draw attention to herself," a girl named Alexa Rossetti whispered, leaning forward and joining in on the conversation. "I mean, who would bleach their hair completely white? Plus, those extensions are ridiculous: there's no way in hell that her hair is really that long. Personally, though, I hate her contacts the most: they are _nasty."_

_"_I _know,_ right?_" _Tiffany gushed, leaning forward with a smile that clearly said 'thank you!' with neon headlights. "I mean, really, pink lipstick is okay, but pink_ eyes?_ Like, ew: the freak already stands out with her reputation, so her sense of style is completely overdoing it!"

_You do realize I'm sitting right here, right?_ Kate silently glowered, keeping her face completely expressionless out of reflex. _I'm not deaf, you morons._

In truth, it didn't bother her as much as she wanted to admit: Tiffany Walt was a preppy blue-eyed blonde who sat next to Katherine.

A typical drama queen who loved attention.

Oh, and her three friends, Madison, Alex, and Brittany were just as bad... but only when there were no adults around to see it.

Yeah, Tiffany was cute, perky, and she could definitely lead the school's male population around by the nose, but the only question the teachers really had was why such a seemingly polite and high-class girl had ended up at such a terrible high school. However, there wasn't a single girl in their school who didn't know that Tiffany was always standing on a street corner in skimpy clothes after dark, and Kate was fairly certain that she'd slept with the majority of the guys who attended class.

In short?

The bitch was a typical two-faced whore who liked to smile at people and act like a good girl to hide the horns sticking out of her forehead.

That's why it didn't bother her very much.

"Really, though, it's too bad she won't talk," Brittany sighed, twirling her hair around her pinky. "If she opened up... we could give her a makeover, right?"

The trio shared a look before they burst out laughing, shredding Kate's self-esteem.

"Nah," they all said at the same time. "As if!"

_I didn't dye my hair, this is my natural hair length, and I'm not wearing contacts,_ Kate whispered silently, tiny hands balling up into shaking fists. _I was born like this! It's not like I asked to have Hermansky Pudlak Syndrome, so shut up and mind your own business! I'm an albino, dammit! I'm not a witch!_

"Shut up…" the new student grunted, making Katie blink around the same time that the trio's shrill laughter fell silent; the new student had an extremely deep voice. "You girls are annoying the hell out of me. I can't get any rest with you idiots jabbering on and on about shit I don't care for, so if you would kindly do me a favor and shut your mouths, I'd be much obliged."

Kate blinked in surprise upon hearing his insulting words and glanced over her shoulder in time to see him sitting up; she hadn't been able to see his face since his head had been buried in his arms, but from what little she could see… he had very dark skin, alarmingly bright green eyes, piercings, and a proud eagle nose. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt beneath his blazer, and the hood was up, so she couldn't see much more than that.

After a moment, Katie vaguely wondered if wearing a hoodie beneath a school uniform was actually allowed.

"What did you say?" Tiffany scoffed, looking highly offended by the newcomer's statement. "I dare you to say that again."

"Okay: you're _really fucking annoying,"_ the boy enunciated, giving her a fiercely cold expression. "I know you heard me _that_ time, so shut the fuck up and quit acting like an ignorant blonde. I don't believe in curses, there's no such thing as witches, I _seriously_ hate gossip, and if you hadn't noticed already… the girl you're making fun of is an _albino."_

All three girls blinked at him as though they had no clue what he was talking about.

"Wait, isn't an albino... like, a white rat or something?" one of them asked. "Ew, so she's similar to a rat?"

"Figures," Tiffany giggled, making the boy narrow his eyes before his gaze flicked to look at Kate; she was staring at her desk with her hands folded, and outwardly, she didn't even seem to care one way or another about their insults. "She always was a little too mousey. I always thought it was weird."

"You bitches are dumb," Daniel muttered, letting his head thump back down on the desk when the blondes gave him a WTF look. "Just so you know, it's not possible for a human being to bleach their hair completely white without having it all fall out. So, since the bitch _obviously_ has a _lot_ of white hair and it's been the same color from day one, the only reasonable answer is that she has albinism. And no, albinism isn't associated with rats: it can happen in any living creature."

"What is it?" a boy with curly blonde hair and angular features asked, turning around and looking at Kate with curious eyes. "Albinism, I mean?"

"It's a rare genetic disease that discolors the pigmentation of the body," Daniel grumbled, scratching the side of his hood. "So, to wrap this shit up, the color of the girl's eyes and hair are _natural,_ so everyone, please do me a favor and shut the fuck up already."

"I… you... how…?" Kate finally squeaked, staring at him with huge eyes and an open mouth. "How the hell do you know so much about albinism?!"

When he lifted his head and shot a glare at her, the girl locked up and hastily spun back around.

Her heart thumped madly when an array of whispers broke out around her, but all she could see in her mind was the image of his glare.

It was the first time in a long time that she'd spoken in class... that's probably why everyone was so surprised.

"Don't mistake my actions," the boy grunted, putting his head down again. "I wasn't being nice; I just wanted them to shut up."

Kate remained silent and didn't respond: the mental image of his sharp green eyes cutting into her own had locked her mouth closed.

"Sorry I'm late: I had trouble getting my car started this morning," Mr. Kenton sighed, yawning as he walked into the room. "We have a new student named Daniel Montgomery joining our class today, so treat him kindly. Anyway, as you all should know from yesterday's agenda, we're going to be preparing for tomorrow's test, so get started."

_Here we go again,_ Kate murmured silently, watching as her teacher sat down. Not even five minutes passed before something hit her on the back of the head, but when Kate looked down and found a crumpled piece of paper resting on her hand, she cocked her head to the side and picked it up. She carefully smoothed it out before peeking at it, but the second she saw what was written, she stiffened in anger. _Why don't you go study black magic instead of math?_

Kate instantly tore the paper into pieces before stuffing the remnants inside her desk, and after that, she buried her head in her arms and waited until the time when her class would be over. Even then things were thrown at her head, but she somehow found a way to ignore the bullies by breathing deeply. Kate managed to fall into a deep meditative state until the bell rang, but she snatched her stuff and zipped out of the room the moment she heard the buzz.

The saddest part was the fact that this was a normal day for her.


	2. Chapter 2: Ripples

**Chapter Two: Ripples**

_The darkness had come for her again._

_Katie slowly opened her eyes and stared into the void of shadows, feeling her heart speeding up almost instinctively. The girl could hear the same distant dripping sound and smell the same cloying metallic air… as though the room were full of stale blood. Her heart skipped a beat when the realization hit her: something or someone had been slaughtered down here, all alone in the darkness. The albino lifted her hands, but paused when she felt something strange: instead of hitting a slick stone wall, she felt the sensation of warm skin and satin-like hair beneath her fingertips. After several moments of touching this anomaly with a bit of apprehension, she registered heavy breathing and blinked. She didn't know why, but she somehow knew the person standing in front of her._

_"Who are you…?" Katie whispered, struggling to see through the shadows. "Why are you here?"_

_"Shut up..." a female voice sneered, making her twitch. "I've always hated your goody-goody act!"_

_"**I see you...**" a familiar ragged voice whispered, echoing out of the darkness with the chilling rasp of fire. "**I've found you...**"_

_Almost immediately, the void of stars filled the air and Katie saw a gorgeous brunette standing in front of her. The girl's crystal blue eyes were full of cold hatred, and her expression was wrinkled with a terrible smile that had been laced with rage and satisfaction. It wasn't until the moment her blue eyes began to mirror the fiery cat's eye that the albino realized she was holding an enormous sword high above her head, shimmering tip facing the sky. _

"—ight as well…" a distant voice sniggered. "After all, she won't know."

_Katherine's heart froze when the blade came down._

"NO!" Kate shrieked, bolting upright in bed and flailing around in mass hysteria. "NO! NO, NO, NO! NOOOOO! HELP!"

"Holy shit!" Nathan squawked, jumping away from her bedside with both hands raised. "Chill! Chill! I wasn't really gonna do it!"

"H-huh?" Katie asked, glancing at up her brother with frightened violet eyes: the boy was holding an uncapped marker in his left hand, but aside from that, he looked rather spooked for the first time in a long time. "Oh... hi, Nathan. What's with the marker?"

"N-nothing, all right? Damn, Kate, you nearly gave me a heart attack," the albino boy irritably huffed, shakily capping the marker and shoving it into his back pocket; she blinked when he hefted his backpack. "Anyway, get dressed, Katie… Toni's letting us ride a public bus since another social worker is coming to check on us this afternoon. She said she doesn't want us to be tired for the meeting."

"For real?!" the girl squeaked, looking at him in surprise; he merely stared at her with a flat expression. "O-okay... um, I'll... I'll be ready in a jiffy!"

True to her word, the girl slipped on her uniform and did her hair in a flurry of action, but her brother scowled when she tied the familiar black ribbon into the back of her hair. Once Katie had gone through her usual morning routine and had grabbed all of her needed belongings, the twins reluctantly went downstairs together and headed for the bus stop without meeting each other's eyes: it was an extremely rare treat for them to be able to ride the bus and not have to walk all the way to school… but for some weird reason, Katie's smile didn't stay fixed in place like she'd intended it to.

She ended up staring into space with a such blank expression that she actually caught Nathan's attention.

"What's your deal?" he muttered, inconspicuously nudging her shoulder to avoid drawing attention; the girl blinked a few times and looked up at him with a dazed expression before shrugging and staring out the window. He seemed rather vexed by her lack of response, but the girl was kind of happy to see the anxiety lacing his expression. The fact that he was worried was a sign that he might have still cared about her.

Even if it was only a little.

"It's nothing… I'm more surprised by the fact that you're acting like this," Katie murmured quietly, glancing up at him with stoic eyes when he frowned. "I mean… you've already sided with the popular group and befriended every other person at school who doesn't like me, so why are you worried now?"

"You know why I'm worried," Nathan quietly retorted, giving her a serious look. "The last time you woke up screaming, someone_ died._"

That made Katie shut her mouth and keep it shut: for once, he was completely correct.

"No need to worry," Katie said softly, giving her brother a very feeble smile. "This time, the nightmares are about me."

Nathan's eyes flickered a bit upon hearing her statement, and for a few moments… he actually looked scared.

"You said 'nightmares...'" her brother stated slowly, narrowing his violet eyes and looking at her with a very serious expression, "not 'nightmare.' Does that mean you've been having more than one?"

"Why do you care?" Kate distantly inquired, not meeting his gaze and staring blankly out the window. "I already told you that you don't need to worry."

"Don't give me that bullshit," Nate snapped, gripping her shoulder and jerking her around. "Just tell me already!"

"Nathan, I've been having this same nightmare for so long that I stopped counting over three months ago," Katie lifelessly retorted, shooting him a sullen glare and ignoring how his eyes widened. "It's always the same one, so quit worrying. It's not about you, so why do you even care?"

"That's not important!" he hissed, tightening his grip on her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me until now?! Are you trying to piss me off?!"

"Excuse me?" Katherine sneered, lifting her hands and shoving him back a step; for once, he looked startled and taken aback by her actions. "What makes you think you're entitled to know anything about me?! Did you think that being twins automatically means you get to know everything that happens in my life? Don't make me laugh, Nate... I didn't say anything to you because there I didn't see a point to it."

"Why the hell not?" the albino boy snapped, glowering at her with a clenched jaw. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because every single time you get mad, you say that you wish something bad would happen to me," Kate stated softly, turning away with a dazed expression on her face; she didn't even notice that her brother twitched. "I've started having nightmares about me dying, Nathan... and with the way things are between us, I figured you'd be happy enough to throw a _party _if I told you I thought I was going to die. That's why I kept my mouth shut, okay? Are you satisfied now?"

Nathan recoiled at the girl's statement and stared at her with furrowed brows.

She wasn't looking at him any longer and seemed to be genuinely upset.

His sister was normally a very quiet and emotionless girl, and she rarely let things like anger get the best of her… especially when it came to how she addressed him. He had always figured that her sisterly attachment would never change, but seeing her act like this was kind of unsettling. Moreover, the boy couldn't deny that her venomous words stung a bit. After all, she had a good point: he'd been pretty awful to her lately, and he had no right to know about her private life.

"Yeah, I'm plenty satisfied," he sneered, hiding his unease. "I wouldn't lift a hand to save you if something really happened. In fact, I hope it does."

"Don't say that!" Katie whispered, subtle anger switching to fright in an instant. "Even as a joke!"

"Don't start this again," Nathan hissed, gripping her wrist and squeezing it tight. "Don't try to act like the victim, all right?"

"It's all about how you feel, huh?" Katie wearily asked, lifting her arm and jerking her hand out of his grasp. "Let's just set one thing straight, Nathan: if anybody has a right to feel irritable and act pissy towards other people, it's _me._ You weren't the one who watched as the only family we had left bled to death, so stop being a jerk and think about what you're doing to me. Nightmare or not, I'm going to be completely fine… and I _don't_ need a moron like you to come and rescue me, even if something bad does happen. All right?"

"Like I just said," Nathan muttered, looking down at her with angry eyes, "I wouldn't lift a…"

The boy trailed off when he saw his sister's expression: her biting words didn't really match the empty expression on her face.

He blinked and stared at her emotionless eyes; then he flicked his gaze to her hand, which was clutching the bar above them. They were on a public bus, after all: the seats were taken due to the morning rush hour, so they'd had to stand. Katie's hands were shaking violently, but she didn't appear to notice: she was staring out the window, but her violet eyes were somehow... gone.

"Anyone home?" Nathan hesitantly called, waving a hand in front of her eyes. "Seriously, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Katie quietly asked, looking at him with a dazed expression. "Did you say something?"

"Okay, now you've got me worried," the albino boy muttered, scowling out the window. "Cut the crap and tell me what's happening to you, okay? Every time you have a nightmare, it actually becomes real in some way or another, so if you're having those dreams again, even if they're about you, I want you to tell me what you see. You're the only family I have left, Katie: I hate you, and I sure as hell haven't forgiven you for what happened to Emily, but that doesn't mean I want you to die."

For a moment, the girl merely stared at the floor of the bus with a blank expression.

"I… don't think it will escalate that far, even if something _does_ happen," Katie hesitantly lied, giving him another halfhearted smile before she shrugged her shoulders. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. I mean, the nightmares are a little… um, well, how should I put this? For starters, there's no way I could ever sprout a pair of wings... and since giant eyes that are made of fire don't exactly exist, I reckon I'm sort of safe. I just... in my dreams, I keep seeing the face of this creepy blonde woman, and she keeps telling me that I can't return or something... if I do, I'll... like, burn, or something."

"That doesn't sound like a joke," Nathan scoffed, gawking in dismay. "Should I be worried?!"

"No, just continue ignoring me like you always have," Katie sighed, watching her brother's face. "That's all we can really do at this point."

Nathan seemed to be genuinely disturbed by what she'd told him, but at the same time… she hadn't been lying about her nightmares.

And despite the unrealistic factors that had come into play while she'd been sleeping, she still had a terrible feeling in her stomach... and it was only growing stronger with each passing day. She didn't know why yet, but something was coming for her... fast. And whatever it was, she knew it wasn't going to end well. That much she was sure of. A soft sigh slipped through Katie's nose as she watched the unfamiliar scenery pass by: in this part of New York, there were pockets of neighborhoods with houses that looked exactly the same. The girl secretly loved the suburbs, but sometimes the fact that everything looked alike really _bothered_ her.

Her thoughts soon drifted to the little boy she'd seen a few days ago... the one who'd vanished.

It had been almost a week since that day on the bridge, but so far, nothing had really happened to prove that what he'd said was true.

Still, the vanishing act was a little weird, and she wanted to talk to Miss McKinley about it.

"We're here..." Nathan muttered, roughly elbowing her arm before he hefted his backpack. "Let's go."

"No... you ho ahead; I'll be fine on my own," Kate murmured in a soft tone, trying to keep her brother away from her. "I've always been fine."

"If you say so," he grunted, sounding like he didn't care one way or another. "Later."

Katie stared at his back as he headed down the aisle and got off the bus: then she followed him, moving much more slowly with her head lowered.

"Goodbye," she mumbled quietly, slipping the long strap of her bag over her shoulder and hefting her pack. The girl's arms were hanging limply at her sides after she gently stepped off the city bus, and with an emotionless expression, she looked at the path leading to the school. She swallowed when her long white hair was slowly swept off to the side by a gentle breeze... she could already feel her throat locking up.

Like always, she felt as though this were a death sentence.

However, when she finally arrived on school grounds, Katherine instinctively realized that something was wrong: every single girl and boy standing in the area glanced up and started looking at her. Everywhere Katherine looked, there were groups of boys and girls looking straight at her: some had piercings, dyed hair, multitudes of tattoos, but all of them were wearing identical school uniforms worn with careless attitudes.

"What the hell is up with everyone today...?" Kate wondered, slowly turning her head and looking at everyone with furrowed brows; despite her expressionless exterior, she could feel her heart turning cold, and a familiar ringing sensation started building up behind her eyes. After a few moments of standing stock still in the middle of the sidewalk, the girl shakily began walking toward the building doors with a tense demeanor on her face.

However, Tiffany and her little group of sluts halted the albino before she could walk up the stairs.

"So," the blonde girl giggled, giving her a sinister expression. "I guess there's no way for you to deny that you're a witch now, is there?"

Katherine blinked and did a double take, staring at her as though she'd grown another head.

"Um, sorry?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow and staring at the girl in total confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Playing innocent won't work this time, skank," Brittany sneered, pulling a newspaper out and tapping it. "Your face is all over this thing! You can't hide the fact that you're a freak anymore! I guess you must have been desperate for some positive attention, right? Is that why he wrote such a nice story? Did you let him fuck you for it?"

"Uh, what the hell are you talking about?" Katie snapped, finally losing her cool. "Seriously, give me that thing."

When she snatched it out of Brittany's hands and unrolled it, the girls smirked since Katie's stoic demeanor went clean out the window within seconds. For the first time in a long time, her eyes widened and her jaw tightened: she looked stunned. On the front of the newspaper was a picture of her face: when it had been taken, she didn't exactly know, but there was a photo of her standing on the East River bridge and looking at the sky.

"See?" Alex sneered, watching as the albino's jaw slowly went slack. "Can't hide it now, you little whore."

"What the hell?!" Katie whispered, collapsing to her knees when her legs buckled; she frantically flipped the page and started reading, eyes enormous and heart racing with disbelieving anxiety. "What the hell is this?! I never... I never gave anyone permission to do this!"

"What?" Tiffany scoffed, checking her nails. "Oh, don't try that... it's pathetic."

Kate couldn't even hear her: she was so immersed in reading what had been written that her mind had gone numb.

The headline was appalling.

_**"Teenage Girl saves a Fox News reporter using shocking psychic ability"  
><strong>_

"No," Kate stammered, shaking her head before she started reading. "No, no, no, no, no! NO! That creepy stalker?! He was a news reporter?!"

Feeling her herself going numb, the girl frantically read through the article, trying not to panic.

* * *

><p><em>In a shocking and somewhat unbelievable turn of events, last week we discovered that our own Fox News' reporter, Gene Hughes, was saved by a local New York teenager in a most unusual way. He claims that the girl warned him to be careful about driving through a well-known street crossing, and like any rational man, he didn't really pay attention to it... but then, in a startling turn of events, that warning actually saved his life.<br>_

_"From what I could tell, Katherine was a highly unusual young lady... in several different ways," Gene told News Reporter, Beyonca Martinez. "When I first met her, I thought she was suicidal. I mean, she was standing on the railing surrounding the edge the Masteria Hotel's rooftop, but at the same time... there was a part of me that thought, incredulously, that she might be an angel. I've never seen anyone with white hair before, and her eyes... they were like something right out of a fairy tale."_

_When we asked Gene to recount his experiences with the teen, he claimed that she warned him about the connection between his phone and the accident. Low and behold, within ten seconds of arriving at the street crossing, his phone did indeed start ringing: Gene then proceeded to ignore it, which was the key that saved his life. _

_"If I_ _had ignored the warning she'd given me and picked up that call," Gene tells Fox, looking at the reporters with shaken eyes, "I might not be standing here today. That girl saved my life: ten seconds after that phone rang, a runaway bus shredded across the street and crashed into a telephone pole. To think, that could have been me... it's terrifying."_

_According to witnesses, who also saw the accident, nobody on the bus was seriously injured, but there were quite a few scrapes and bruises. We've asked Gene if he thinks this brave and somewhat unusual girl would be willing to meet with Fox News for a formal report, but as of right now, he doesn't know anything about her aside from her name. _

* * *

><p>Kate was in shock: the little color in her cheeks had completely gone white, and her eyes were blank with horror.<p>

"What's wrong, whore?" Tiffany asked, leaning down with a nasty little smirk. "You look really scared for some reason!"

Shredding the newspaper without a word, Katie lunged to her feet and tore up the stairs.

Everyone's eyes were on her when she tore down the hall, but she was so determined to get away from the people around her that she ended up running around for ten minutes before she found the library. Once she got there, the girl slammed the doors shut and sank back down to her knees, muscles shaking violently. However, the sound of a grandmotherly chuckle couldn't even bring her spirits up.

"Why, hello, Katie," Miss McKinley called, sounding surprised. "Is something the matter?"

The girl didn't answer: she couldn't.

She was so sick of everything, so tired of being different, that she couldn't even look at the one person who'd accepted her.

"Miss... McKinley," Katherine stated shakily, slowly crawling back to her feet and finally turning around; when she looked up, the woman's smile was wiped clean and she stood up with a startled expression, since the albino girl had tears streaming down her cheeks. "I... I..."

"W-what's wrong?" the old woman stammered, leaving the desk when Kate's face scrunched up and she clutched the front of her skirt. "What happened?"

"I'm a freak!" the girl stated, trying to fight back the ache in her body. "Everyone knows it now! T-the newspaper... I'm in the newspaper!"

"I know..." Miss McKinley stated soothingly, stopping in front of her and setting her weathered hands on the girl's shoulder. "I know, sweetheart, I read the paper every day! What you did doesn't make you a freak, it makes you a hero! And don't you ever forget it! So, you've got a little more to you than others... does that make you bad? Not at all! I've lived for sixty five years, child, and in this day and age... well, it's a rare thing to meet a child as sweet and honest as you are, dear."

"Huh?" Kate whimpered, slowly turning around and staring at her with dazed amethyst eyes. "What do you—?"

"Shhh, don't talk," the woman soothed, staring into her eyes with a warm smile. "Even if you believe that the whole school thinks you're weird, that doesn't mean it's true: for example, I think you're a sweetheart! Especially considering the environment you live in... Lord have Mercy, you'd have to be a very special girl indeed to be able to smile at people while living with such a horrible woman."

That was what did it.

For the first time in a long time, Katherine couldn't keep her mask in place and began to cry: tears slowly welled up in her eyes and started trickling down her cheeks—freely streaming down her pale, fragile-looking face. The years of pent-up pain, torment, and sadness... all of the emotions she'd kept hidden from everyone... it was finally breaking free and being let loose. The girl's face slowly scrunched up even further and she let out a sob... and then another... and then, she finally started bawling.

The girl slowly clenched her school skirt with shaking fists and tilted her head back, hiccuping and squeaking as she cried like a little girl.

Then she was slowly stepping forward, slowly walking into the librarian's grandmotherly: she was crying not as herself... but as the small, unloved child that had been left along the side of a street holding the hand of her dead elder sister. She squeezed her eyes shut as the keening wails finally tore from her throat: more tears fell from her eyes even as a warm feeling spread throughout her body. Miss McKinley rubbed her back and sighed when her fists tightened onto the back of her floral-print dress.

"There, there," the woman murmured. "Go ahead and let it all out."

Veronica McKinley was one of the few who was aware that Katie had been alone not out of choice, but as a result of her differences: she had been completely alone... unloved, harassed... empty... it was no wonder she was crying. The woman couldn't do anything but rub Katherine's back until she stopped crying, but once she did, she pulled a way and patted her cheek.

"Thank you," Katie sniffed, rubbing her eyes. "Please don't tell anyone that I cried, okay?"

"I won't, dear," the woman chuckled, planting a hand on her hip before she patted her graying curls. "Would you like a cup of hot cocoa before class?"

"That sounds nice," the albino mumbled, hiccuping again and rubbing her puffy eyes. "Thank you."

Still, somehow... there was a part of her that had gone completely numb.

Neither the librarian nor the student noticed that a familiar girl with long brown hair was peering through the door with stunned tears in her eyes.

When school started, Kate had to deal with even more stares than usual, and things became difficult for her. More people picked on her, more people made fun of her, and more people stared: it was horrible... so much, in fact, that when classes finally ended, the girl was almost grateful to be going home. Not long after she left, Kate was soon back at her current residence since Nathan hadn't shown up after his last class. On top of that, the Social Worker had called in and said she couldn't make it.

Toni's rages alone would be something to behold.

Kate she wouldn't ever allow herself to call Toni's house 'home' because she wouldn't be staying there long enough for it to feel that way.

She hadn't lived in a stable environment since their elder sister's death: the longest she and her brother ever stayed with someone was a meager total of seven months.

Katie tiptoed through the dark hallway, trying to keep herself as silent as possible: the place smelled of beer and cigar smoke, which meant Toni was in her abusive mode again. Just as Kate was taking a cautious step around the hall corner, she accidentally stepped on a shard of broken glass and the soft crunching sound caused an avalanche of screeches to resound through the entire house. Kate winced and wondered how the woman could have possibly heard it.

"Who the fuck is crashing around up here?" Toni shrieked, making Kate flinch. "Who broke into my house?!"

"It's just me," Kate called back, voice trembling so badly that it made her feel sick with herself. "I'm back."

It was cold inside the house, as if the sunny warmth of the afternoon had refused to enter the darkened area. Toni's silhouette suddenly filled the doorway, blocking out the hallway light so abruptly that Katie actually let out a squeak of surprise. The girl could see the woman's wide, bloodshot eyes even in this kind of darkness: they were two glittering green orbs full of malice and disgust. Kate froze and struggled to escape from the hatred in her foster mother's eyes, but it felt like she was drowning in darkness.

It was a darkness so deep that she couldn't help but be pulled under the surface.

She could feel the hatred emanating from the woman's soul just by looking at her eyes.

Kate swallowed and returned her attention to Toni, staring into her jade green eyes as fear involuntarily rose up her throat: she could never summon the courage she needed to face her foster parents. Part of the reason was the fact that none of them had ever wanted her or her brother in the first place: the government had literally forced the Thompson twins upon so many people that Kate had lost count. The families never tried to be nice; they never acted as though they cared; they always made it clear that the twins weren't wanted and gave them the cold shoulder.

That, or they merely took the opportunity to vent their own frustrations by abusing Kate.

Nathan had never been hit more than once since he was strong enough and _angry_ enough to hit them back: he wouldn't hesitate to hurt them just as much as they hurt him. Kate was the weaker of the twins, and on top of that she was female… so she was always the target when it came to being hurt.

When Toni took a heavy step forward, Kate took a tiny step back.

This woman was no different than the monsters the twins had lived with since their parents had died.

She definitely wasn't the worst of them, but she had a very unsettling talent for using words to hurt people.

Her tongue could cut deeper than the sharpest knife.

"I should have known," Toni sneered, soft lips curling in disgust as her pretty face became ugly. "Everything came crumbling down when you and your brother came into this house. Those disgusting eyes that look out of your mother's ugly face... I grew up with your mother, you know: she lived about two miles away from here, and I actively hated her. She was better at everything than I was, she always had a pack of tarot cards in her pocket, and she married a gorgeous man who treated her like a queen. You had a family of freaks, Kate... but I honestly should be thanking you."

_Don't say it,_ Kate pleaded silently, balling her hands into fists. _Please, Toni... don't say it again._

"After all, you were the one who killed them," the woman chuckled nastily, making the albino girl flinch. "Right, you little freak?"

Kate remained silent, hoping if she didn't speak then Toni would go away.

The woman had repeated this particular speech so many times before that the girl actually knew it by heart, and sometimes she woke up in the middle of the night with the words hovering on the tip of her tongue. Even though it had been an accident, Kate really had killed her parents: she had forgotten to turn the stove off after making dinner one evening, and the house had caught fire. That accident had caused the death of her mother and father.

On their way to a dentist appointment only a few months after that, Emily had died during a drive-by.

Everyone believed that Kate had cursed her since she'd woken up screaming about the same event earlier that same morning.

However, there was more to it than that... Kate had known something was going to happen, and she'd fought to prevent it. All day long, she had pleaded with their elder sister to stay home, and it had gotten to the point where her words had severely spooked her brother: she had said things to Emily that no little girl should have known about, let alone spoken of. She had begged, over and over again, to stay home… had chanted the one phrase that had stuck in her mind when she'd woken up screaming.

_'I don't want to go!'_ Kate had shrieked. _'The Red Rivers! The Red Rivers!_ _Don't make me go!'_

In the end, Nathan had ended up staying home: Kate had scared him so bad with her screaming that he'd been too afraid to leave the house afterwards.

However, she was the one who'd been scheduled for the dentist's appointment, so she'd had no choice but to obey her older sister and head into uptown New York. On their way back to the bus stop from the dentist, the two sisters were unexpectedly caught up in the middle a gang war… and that was how her nightmare had come to pass. When the cars continued on and screeched around the corner and the gunfire had faded, Emily's blood had already stained that street with rivers of blood.

Toni's hands were suddenly on her shoulders, forcing her against the wall.

"Are you listening to me, bitch?" she growled, looking into Kate's eyes. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"Stop it, Toni," Kate whispered, shaking her head. "Stop…"

"Don't look at me with those disgusting eyes!" Toni screeched, smacking Kate in the face. "Those aren't your mother's eyes! Those aren't the eyes of the woman I grew up with! Those are your father's eyes! Those are the eyes of a nasty demon who took my best friend away from me! I hope that bastard is burning in hell! Give her back, you murderer!"

Kate recoiled away from the woman's hand and squeezed her eyes even tighter.

She wished the woman would simply leave her alone, but her words about her eyes were true.

They weren't the eyes of someone who was particularly normal.

Kate turned away, keeping her eyes shut tight so the woman wouldn't hit her again.

A jarring impact on her cheek sent pain rocketing into her skull, but the woman shoved Kate once more and began muttering under her breath. When Toni stormed into the living room, the small-boned albino girl let out a shuddering breath of relief and pressed a hand to her burning cheek, slowly forcing herself to walk up the stairs into her room. Judging by how the blow was both stinging and aching beneath the skin, she knew that it was most likely going to bruise by the next morning.

Throwing her bag onto the floor, Kate turned on her light and faced the mirror with uncertainty. Her cheek was still burning unpleasantly with the impact of her foster mother's heavy hand, but it wasn't as bad as the other times or even the other foster families. She'd definitely had worse than this... in fact, she was inclined to say that this was the best residence so far. There had been times when the twins had been beaten and starved to the point of death. A few bruises every now and then was a lot better in comparison.

_Toni's right about one thing… _Kate thought sadly, touching her long silver hair as she looked in the mirror. _I look almost exactly like my mom, but I have my father's eyes... sort of._

The albino girl had the same shimmering white hair, the same pearly skin, the same overly-plump lips, and the same fragile build as her mother… but unlike the woman who had given birth to her, Kate's height didn't want to extend over five feet. However, the biggest difference between the two of them was the shape of their eyes: her mother's eyes had been exotic and slightly upturned at the far edges, and in hue they had been a dark shade of pink. Kate's eyes were very big, round, and angled towards the ground at the edges… but they were so light in color that they almost seemed to reflect all forms of light like mirrors.

In the darkness, they shifted back and forth in color from light pink to a silvery violet.

Kate closed her eyes and sank down to her knees: she wanted things to go back to the way they used to be, before her mother and father had died… before Emily had died, too… but time and fate were cruel realities, and she was all alone in a hostile world. She had given up hope on being loved by other people long ago... she had given up on a future where life could possibly be happy... she had turned her back on the conniving faces of humanity, for they had done nothing but hurt her.

She had promised herself not to trust anyone, ever again.

Because, after all... who could ever love a freak?


	3. Chapter 3: Wakeful Premonition

**Chapter Three: Wakeful Premonition**

_There was no darkness this time... there wasn't a cellar with the scent of blood... there wasn't even an abyss full of stars.  
><em>

_However, compared to where she was right now, any of those would have been more preferable. _

_Katherine was somehow standing frozen with terror on top of an enormous tower, a structure that had been built so high that it could have put both of the fallen World Trade Centers to shame: below her was a chasm of nearly six thousand stories worth of empty air, and above her was a sky that was frothing with volcanic ash. The wind was tearing at her old nightgown, and her long hair was flying in every direction. She couldn't move... if she moved, the burning eye that was flicking around in the distance would see her._

_It would find her again._

_"Somebody..." Kate whimpered, fighting to keep its evil heat off of her by remaining still. "Help me..."_

_The moment she said it, a flash of light seared into her retinas and a two-tailed comet sailed overhead. _

_The comet was white and red, but she could sense that it was emanating an ancient evil. _

_However, at the same time... it was flickering with such dark brilliance that she had trouble tearing her eyes away from it. Blazing through the dark sky and shredding the volcanic clouds as it passed, the two-tailed comet launched itself straight for a distant moon that looked way larger than the one she was used to seeing. In a fiery radiance, it slammed into the surface… but shockingly, there was no sound: nothing but silence followed the impact and not even a single stone on the moon's surface budged. _

_It was as if the comet itself were passing through the moon the way light passes through glass. _

_Kate tried to reach out and touch the ghostly flames licking from the comet's tail, but the moment she moved, the eye flicked in her direction and her silver hair started billowing around much more slowly. Actually, everything moved more slowly... even the chilling wind, which had somehow become scorching hot. Katie stood there with horrified eyes, watching as the ball of fire seemed to loom closer: it was as if the tower she was standing on had started zooming in on it.  
><em>

_"NO!" Kate screeched, lifting her hand and slowly whirling around; every step from her bare feet seemed to take an eternity, and she started crying as she ran across the tower. "HELP! SOMEONE, HELP ME!"_

_However, there wasn't a way to get off the structure: she was trapped at the top of it._

_When she collapsed to her knees, a glowing red mark began to snake around her torso from her back, trickling over her pearly skin like blood. The red made its way down her arms and wrists, then around her throat, burning as it went. The girl didn't notice how much danger she was in until she looked down at herself: the eye's gaze had latched onto a spot between her ribs, where a black sword had been buried in her flesh. The redness swirled into the gashes on her arms, neck, and collarbone. _

_Then her skin began to peel and the pink flesh underneath became hot. _

_"OOWWWW! HELP ME!" Kate cried, lifting her arms to the stars above for assistance. "PLEASE! SOMEONE!"  
><em>

_No one would come to save her, though... and she realized with horror that she was completely alone: all of these pale and unforgiving stars didn't care about her existence. The girl's vision tunneled as the red glow leaked into her eyes, blurring her sight into colors that resembled a shimmering gasoline rainbow. Swirling round and round in that pool of pain was a screaming girl who would die completely alone… alone, in pain, and all but forgotten by the world. Just like her sister, Emily... just like her parents._

_"Help…" she whimpered, closing her eyes as her ears filled with a rushing noise. "Someone, please! Help me!"_

_"Who would want to help you?" her brother whispered, appearing beside her with a flash. "Isn't it your fault that our sister died? Isn't it your fault that our parents burned to their deaths? Everyone's always saving you, Kate, but when someone calls for help, you cower like a little rabbit. You've caused the death of everyone I've ever loved, so why would anybody come to save you? You're a coward… and that's why you'll die alone. And nobody will care."_

_"STOP IT!" the girl wailed, choking as the red started pouring down her throat. "NATHAN, HELP ME!"  
><em>

_Suddenly, a screeching buzz echoed within her head, blurring the image of her brother's sneer. _

_She desperately struggled to breathe, stretching out her hand to his laughing silhouette as her vision began to disintegrate. _

"—anders?" a voice called.

_"Nate, please!" Kate wailed, letting out a cry when her world faded and the buzzing took over her senses. "Help me!"  
><em>

"Miss Sanders, wake up!" somebody angrily shouted, snapping the small girl out of her nightmare. Kate's head instantly snapped up and she tensed, violet eyes glittering as she faced her teacher's glare. "Honestly, how many times do I have to tell you that there is no sleeping in my class? This is the third time in a row you've put your head down!"

"I'm sorry... I finished the work you handed out, so I wanted to rest my eyes for a bit," the albino stoically retorted, rubbing her large eyes as the rest of the class started sniggering; everyone already knew how many times Kate had been reprimanded by this particular teacher. "I never meant to fall asleep."

"Regardless, you cannot sleep in class!" Mrs. Kingsford rapped out, catching her attention. "Are we clear?"

"Of course I am," Kate murmured, using her bangs to hide her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Very well," Mrs. Kingsford sighed, straightening up and pointing to the board imperiously. "Still, since you've finished the work I handed out, I'm guessing you can tell the class the answer to this particular question. Am I correct? After all, if you actually did the work, you should know the answer to it."

The girl's half-lidded eyes darted over the problem; then, after flipping through her notebook, Katherine found her finished work and quickly read the answer.

She shot a quick glance at the teacher after she was done, but the woman appeared far from satisfied.

Mrs. Kingsford glared at her for a long moment, almost as if she thought the girl had copied the work from someone else. Then she swept away, rapping her ruler on tables to wake students up. Kate instantly sank into her chair with a soft sigh of relief: she hated being the center of attention, and personally, her teacher was acting a little ridiculous since she was practically the only person in class who really ever bothered to do homework. Luckily, there were only ten more minutes until the end of the period.

When the bell finally rang, the whole class erupted into a flurry of action.

Kate allowed herself to be pulled along by the stream of students to the cafeteria, listening to the swirl of gossip and the loud teasing with a dazed expression. Ever since the day she'd seen the newspaper article about the man she'd saved, Katherine had been having more problems than ever before: people had been so mean that she'd actually considered running away and leaving it all behind. Plus, she was still feeling totally off center since the nightmares were making it impossible for her to sleep normally, and she couldn't shake off the feeling that something horrible was going to happen soon.

She didn't know why, of course, but the feeling in her gut was still growing stronger.

When somebody unexpectedly elbowed her in the side and smashed her against a locker, she let out a wheeze of pain that was lost in the chatter.

Kate squeezed her violet eyes shut and bit her lip as pain rocketed throughout her sides, tasting the familiar tang of copper as she drew blood.

The pain in her lip relieved her from the agony in her side, but only for a moment: when the pain had faded enough for her to stand upright, the albino girl pulled her thigh-length hair over her shoulder and continued on her way. After she made it to the cafeteria, she quickly joined the line and grabbed nothing but a carton of juice since she was eager to remove herself from the jostling crowd. She found it exceedingly intimidating to be surrounded by so many people: crowds had always frightened her, and she had always been extremely awkward because she stood out thanks to her looks.

Kate hastily headed for the doors, but the bane of her existence managed to stop her before she got there.

"Look who it is!" Alan sneered, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around. "Little Miss Witch decided to join us for lunch!"

"Um, can I help you?" Kate asked in a stoic voice, struggling to keep her fearful emotions hidden behind her mask.

"Actually, for once, you really can!" Alan snorted with a grin, smashing his hand against the wall beside her head and leaning close to her face. "We heard something really interesting yesterday. Is it true that your ugly twin brother is dating the student council president, Erika Montgomery?"

Kate stared at him for a full ten seconds, not comprehending the question.

"What did you just say?" Kate asked, blinking in shock for several moments. "Did you just ask me if Nathaniel is dating the class president?"

"Well, someone saw the two of them making out yesterday," Salem scoffed, sneering at her in disgust. "Sheesh, I guess even your twin brother hates you if he won't even tell you about all the girls he's fooled around with... I just never thought Erika would be one of them."

Kate flinched and looked down at the ground, violet eyes going blank in disbelief: she swallowed as the events from the previous week came back to her.

She'd definitely seen her brother holding hands with a brunette, and Erika _was_ the only girl in their school who had waist-length brown hair… but did that really mean the two of them were dating each other? It was pretty unbelievable... but then again, the fact that Nate had smiled was also unbelievable.

"You're... mistaken," Kate stated emotionlessly, struggling to retain her composure when she realized that everybody around them was listening: Erika was one of the most popular girls in the entire school, so someone as 'lowly' as her brother could definitely not have been dating her. "I don't really know who Nathaniel likes, and he's never told me if he has a girlfriend... but he definitely wouldn't fool around with more than one person, if with anybody at all. He's not that kind of guy, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop making assumptions about him."

"Erika wouldn't even touch an ugly freak like your brother, let alone kiss him!" Mitchell angrily scoffed, blocking her path when she turned to walk away. "He probably forced himself on her! You'd better tell your bro to stay away from Erika, otherwise we might hurt him."

"Wow! Please, I implore you, go ahead and try it!" Kate snorted, startling everyone by letting out a genuine laugh. "You'll end up losing a few teeth, though, because my brother is the complete opposite of me when it comes to dealing with people. Unlike me, he _will not _hesitate to hurt you, so I honestly wouldn't recommend trying to puff your chest out in front of him. The last person who tried to do something _that_ stupid ended up in the hospital with a busted ribcage and a fractured jaw."

When Alan's mouth fell open in surprise, Kate gave him a coy salute and tried to walk around Mitchell.

However, she had only taken two steps when the boy suddenly shoved her and she went stumbling; just when she thought she would crash face-first into the door, it opened wide and she smacked into a muscular body instead. The collision knocked her flat on her backside, and she rubbed her aching nose before glancing up at the person she'd crashed into. As her eyes traveled up from his waist, she became progressively alarmed until she found herself staring at the face of a lion-like boy.

However, she twitched when she realized she was looking at the student who'd recently started attending her class.

Daniel Montgomery was the last person Kate wanted to bump into like this, especially after everything she'd heard about him through the rumor vine; he was famous all over New York City for bludgeoning a teacher half to death. It had been all over the news a few years ago, and he'd even been put through a trial as a result, but he had been declared completely innocent once it had become known that Daniel's teacher had attempted to rape his crippled mother when she'd gone to the bathroom during a parent teacher conference. However, when she looked up, her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock.

It was the first time she'd seen him clearly, because his hood was down and his face was completely illuminated.

The first thing she'd noticed about him was his incredible size... because he was, in fact, nearly seven feet tall: the top of her head only came up to the beginnings of his lower chest. The next thing she saw were his eyes: they were a startling shade of electric green, but incredibly unique and unlike anything she'd ever seen before. His chiseled face was hard, his slanted eyes were narrowed, his square jaw was clenched, and his shoulder-length black hair was more of a wild mane than anything else. Kate also noticed that there were hardly any places on his face that hadn't been skewered by a piercing: from the cartilage in his ears to the bone on his chin, silver and gold gleamed on his face like a macabre version of connect-the-dots... there were even two rows of piercings above his eyebrows. He looked like a gigantic Indian with an odd biker fetish.

The girl's eyes slid down to her juice, which he was holding between three of his fingers.

He could probably wrap both of his hands around her waist and have a ton of finger room left over.

"Daniel," Mitchell stuttered, face going extremely pale. "Hey, man, what's up?"

Daniel stepped back and watched as the albino girl shakily stood up, straightening her navy blazer and dusting her knee-length skirt off.

"What's going on here?" Daniel demanded in a low voice, lifting his hand in an attempt to dust off Kate's shoulder; the girl immediately flinched away from his arm and turned her face to the side out of instinct. The giant's green eyes narrowed in suspicion when he noticed that she was shivering violently. "Okay… I really don't like what I'm seeing, so talk: what's going on?"

Alan and his friends stumbled over their words as they tried to come up with a good explanation.

"Well, I dunno if you heard the rumors since you're new and all, but this weird-looking chick is a witch! No joke!" Alan finally spluttered, folding his arms in a nervous manner. "Even the news knows it! Since she sees the future, she can put curses on people that change their lives for the worse! On top of that, her brother forced himself on my best friend, Erika... we thought we should send him a message, that's all it was!"

Kate twitched and gawked at them with huge eyes.

"That's not true at all!" the girl squeaked, flailing her arms with a frantic expression. "I-I'm not a witch, and Nate isn't that kind of guy! And just because some whacko said I accidentally saved him from getting flattened by a bus, it doesn't mean I'm a witch! Stop lying and leave me alone already!"

Daniel merely looked at her with an impassive expression that made her entire body prickle.

He could honestly send her flying with one punch if he chose to do so: he was that big compared to her... but for some reason, she was more terrified by the look in his eyes than his fists at the moment. He was staring at her with an intense mixture of curiosity, suspicion, and annoyance... but the weirdest part was that he wasn't sneering at her, and she had a weird feeling that he was on her side rather than theirs.

"I'm betting your 'friend' doesn't need someone like you to fight her battles," Daniel finally grunted, glancing at Alan with a slight glare. "You handled the situation wrong in two ways. First of all, you went for the guy's sister even though she obviously had no role in whatever transpired between her brother and your friend. Considering how tiny this bitch is, I'm guessing she doesn't even have the capability to defend herself, which most likely makes you the one who's in the wrong. Second off, if this Erika girl was so upset about the pipsqueak's brother lip-locking with her, why the hell is she sitting on his lap and kissing him out in the hallway? He's the only male albino in school, and she's the student council President, right? If that's the case, I'd say _she's_ forcing herself on _him_!"

"Huh?!" Kate choked, eyes widening in total shock. "Nate is doing what?!"

"He's snogging the class Pres," the giant retorted, cocking an eyebrow when her knees buckled and she sank to the ground. "Like, right now."

"This is unbelievable," Alan hissed, clenching his fists in rage. "I can't believe that bitch..."

"Shut up and scat," Daniel growled, emerald eyes flashing. "You're pissing me off."

The boys obeyed in an instant, backing away from the cafeteria doors and heading to their regular table the second he gave the command. When the boy turned his glare on Kate, the small girl flinched and looked at the ground with both of her shoulders hunched and her knees shaking violently. She jumped when he unexpectedly bent over and held out a huge hand: for several moments, she merely stared at it.

"It's just a hand," he muttered, lips twisting in annoyance as he stared at her. "Take it already."

"Uh... thanks," Kate whispered, purposely avoiding looking at his face. "You shouldn't help me, though... people will start looking down on you."

Daniel snorted and stared at her with furrowed brows.

"I do what I want, regardless," the giant muttered, flipping his hood up and lumbering off without another word. "Catch ya later."

When he shoved his enormous hands deep in his pockets and made for the are where food was being handed out, Kate's heart fluttered and her cheeks felt warm for no reason whatsoever. When her ears began to burn, she turned and bolted out of the cafeteria. A quick glance up and down the hallway confirmed that she was alone, which made her sigh in relief: she was lucky that the boys were probably still trying to confront her brother. She seriously needed to be alone: things were wrong with her brain.

Feeling edgy, Kate quietly began to tiptoe toward the hall that led to her next class.

However, the albino came to a stop when she rounded the corner and came face to face with an unfamiliar hallway.

Her eyes slowly widened and her entire body froze: this didn't even look like it was a part of her school.

All of the light bulbs in the ceiling were broken and the rest were flickering weakly: it looked as though the hall had been completely destroyed.

Or rather... as though some sort of bomb had gone off.

"W-what the hell happened here?" Kate whispered, staring at the decimated hallway in shock. "Oh, my God... M-Miss McKinley! Help! Someone!"

Her voice couldn't even rise above a squeak: all of the windows in the corridor had been blown in somehow, and all of the glass resting on the classroom entrances were either cracked or broken. Doors were lying ajar or completely unhinged all over the place; huge holes lined the ceiling and dotted the stretch of the floor, and enormous piles of debris had coated the ground in several places. There were even a few chunks of concrete lying in various areas.

Just beyond the hall, however, six hooded figures slowly came into view and the girl froze with a startled gasp: they slowly glided across the ground and moved towards her in slow motion, tattered black robes flowing weightlessly around their shadowed forms. They looked like messengers of death, or rather, like those freakish monsters from the Harry Potter preview she'd seen the other day. What were they called... dementors? But dementors weren't real, and neither was Harry Potter, so what the hell _were_ those things?!

The pale girl twitched when the hallway and the figures started rippling like a mirage. The next time she blinked, the hallway had unexpectedly fixed itself and returned to normal with no warning whatsoever. The girl's violet eyes widened even further and she frantically rubbed them before staring at the now-inviting classroom doors in disbelief.

The hooded figures were gone.

_No... it can't be,_ Kate silently told herself, heart speeding up with fear. _Nothing bad could happen at school, right?_

She didn't know... nor did she want to.

But one thing was for certain: something terrible was going to happen soon, and she had no doubt that it was going to happen to her.

Frantically trying to pretend that she hadn't seen what she'd seen, the small girl whirled around and bolted towards her classroom. She skidded around a corner and sprinted past a few lingering students, but when she finally made it to her own hallway, the girl slid to a stop and her eyes went wide. Alan and his cronies were standing in front of the door, obviously waiting for her to come running for the classroom. It was so predictable that she should have been expecting it: she was rarely late since she hated being scolded by the teacher. Mr. Kenton loved every opportunity he got to jump down her throat, and being late was his only chance since she was extremely careful about it.

"There she is!" Salem cried, spotting her and pointing down the hall. "She's right there!"

"What is it this time?! Just leave me alone!" Kate wailed, whipping around and bolting in the opposite direction. "God, stop chasing me already! Go away!"

However, she still heard shouts behind her, and a hasty glance over her shoulder awarded the girl with the sight of three boys frantically chasing after her. Cruel grins spread across their faces and they let out wild catcalls when she squealed in alarm: she didn't know where the sound had come from, but being chased had caused the shriek to erupt from her mouth. Kate flew towards the end of the hall as students who were waiting for the third bell to ring poked their heads out of the classroom doors.

Several laughs accompanied her passing, for they all knew that this was a fairly uncommon sight.

As she was darting around the corner, Kate slipped on the freshly-mopped floor and went sliding into the wall. Once she'd gotten her senses back, the girl hastily shook herself off and scrabbled to her feet, ducking under a textbook as she went. When she caught sight of the principle's office, the girl began to sprint as fast as she could go.

However, when Alan ran around the corner with huge history book in his hands, her heart skipped a beat.

_I'm going too fast to stop!_ Kate mentally wailed, covering her head; she let out a yelp when the textbook collided with her right cheek, losing her balance only a second before she smacked into the bully's chest. The two of them went sliding across the tiles before smacking into the lockers: when Kate attempted to get back up, however, Alan rolled on top of her and pinned her down by straddling her waist. When she tried to hit him, he gripped her wrists and pinned them down as well.

"Got you," he sneered, panting and grinning at her. "Now, what should I do with you? I didn't think that far ahead."

"G-g-g-get off me..." Kate stuttered, face contorting as she struggled to lift her arms. "Ow! Get off! Go away!"

"Nah, I'm too comfortable sitting right here," Alan groaned, closing his eyes and trying to catch his breath; several students started laughing hysterically when he made a mockery of being out of breath and using her as a chair. "Sheesh... your belly is really soft! You'd make a nice chair, Silverlocks! I should do this more often!"

"Ow! Stop it! You're hurting me!" Kate snapped, squeezing her eyes shut as the bones in her ribcage popped. "Ow! Ow! G-get off me, please! You're—EEK!—too heavy!"

"Get off my sister right now," a cold voice stated, making everybody freeze like a marble statue; Alan's expression twitched and he looked more than a little spooked. "What would you have said if a teacher had caught you doing this instead of me? With the right explanation, Kate could get you charged with attempted rape and have you expelled."

"Oh, shit," Alan muttered, looking up at Roe in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," the albino boy retorted, shooting his twin sister a glare that made her wince, "so don't provoke her like this."

Kate didn't return her brother's gaze when he walked away without another word: in the end, he was more worried about the boy who was hurting her.

When the third bell finally rang, everybody fled into their classrooms and Alan got of off her stomach with a snicker before swaggering away with his pals. Kate sat up and clutched her bruising wrists, face burning with mortification: she wanted to cry, but she was too proud. Slowly getting to her feet, the girl grabbed her fallen backpack and made her way into class. She didn't notice that a girl with long brown hair was watching her from a distant hallway corner. Nor did she notice that the sky outside was slowly darkening with clouds that seemed to suck the light right out of the air... clouds that seemed to be more than just the premiss of a storm.

Katherine Sanders didn't even know that the day she'd been fearing for so long had finally arrived.


	4. Chapter 4: Darkness Begins to Fall

**Chapter Four: Darkness Begins to Fall  
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_The nightmare was different this time._

_There was no moldy abyss... there was no water falling into a puddle... there was no coppery scent filling the air... there was only an endless black space that stretched on forever in front of her. Unable to witness what was in front of her—and not knowing what her next step would bring… yes, normally it would have been frightening, but somehow it was different. This time... she found the darkness to be almost... comforting. A dim light appeared at the end of the tunnel and her gaze lifted in time to see nine silhouettes appear. _

_Why was the light there? _

_Who was standing in it? _

_One step after another, Katherine began walking towards the silhouettes. It all felt so familiar, almost as though she'd done this a million times before. Maybe she had, but if so, she couldn't remember. Step by step, she drew closer to the nine shadows—shadows which soon became the outlines of several different people of varying size. After a few more steps, she blinked since the group of teenage boys and men were facing away from her. However, one of them in particular caught her attention. As Kate drew closer, this man's striking details became clearer: he had long blonde hair… and it had a shiny, almost metallic sheen to it._

_She didn't know why, but the sight of this man frightened her._

_"Who... are you?" Katherine called, looking at the beings in front of her. "Who are you?!"_

_The blonde turned his head slightly at the sound of her voice, but Kate twitched when she spotted his ear: it was sharp... and long. _

_"Tauriel?" he asked, speaking in a distorted voice that she couldn't quite make out._

_"Is something wrong?" a dark-haired silhouette with broad shoulders asked; once again, she couldn't quite identify the tone. "Are you all right, L-?" _

_Kate twisted her head when the name distorted and seemed to vanish after the first syllable._

_"No, A-" the blonde man stated in an almost weary tone. "T'was but an illusion of the mind."_

_The albino girl lifted a hand and opened her mouth to shout at them again, but she didn't have a chance._

_Before she could blink, she was suddenly standing on a beach. _

_Whipping around with a gasp, she was startled to realize that the figures were gone: in the blonde man's place was her twin brother. Nathaniel was facing the ocean, wearing his school uniform and seeming to be at ease for the first time in a while. All around them, the beautiful scenery of a white-sands island was prominent... even the water was beautiful. _

_It was such a clear tropical blue that Kate felt her breath being taken away._

_"Nathan!" she called, waving her hand with large eyes. "Nathan, where are we?! This is amazing!"_

_She paused when her brother mimicked the blonde man's movements and slightly turned his head, almost as if he were trying to hear something._

_But unlike the blonde, he actually turned around completely and looked directly at her: then, with a soft smile, he held out his hand._

_Kate's heart flew up her throat and time froze._

_Her brother... he was smiling at her and holding out his hand. _

_Feeling her eyes shining with tears, the girl let out a sob and took a single step forward, planning on tackling him to the ground in a bear hug... but then she noticed the water and glanced down, smile fading into a confused frown. The tide was going out at a rapid pace... and when she glanced up, she saw an enormous wave gathering in the distance behind her brother. Eyes widening, the girl opened her mouth to scream her brother's name, but nothing came out. Then she was running at top speed with her own hand held out, long hair flying and school skirt billowing as her feet kicked up the sand._

_Just before she grabbed him, the world disappeared and she fell through the air before landing in a dark place devoid of light._

_In front of her stood a girl who was crying with shaking shoulders. _

_There was a sharp object dangling from the girl's hand... an object that was coated in dark liquid. The fluid was dripping from the tip into a puddle beside her shoes, and beyond the girl's form was a giant mound of some sort: Kate couldn't make out what it was... but it positively reeked of blood_

_"Who's there?!" Kate called, looking at the girl's white hair with large violet eyes. "Who are you?!"_

_When the distant girl finally turned around and their gazes met, a pair of glowing neon yellow eyes met her pale pink ones._

_The person standing in front of her was completely identical to Kate, aside from the frightening eye color. _

_Katherine's doppelganger dropped the object and lifted her small hands with shaking muscles, staring at her face with a blank expression. She started walking, one step after the other, towards the real Kate with shaking muscles: the albino stood frozen until her doppelganger touched her arm… but when the crying, glowing-eyed version of her was sucked inside her body without even a sound to mark her vanishing, a vision overtook her mind. She saw herself splitting an enormous screeching monstrosity in half with a silver sword. _

_"You are whole, Daughter of Ainur…" a familiar voice whispered. "Take up arms and fight..."_

"NO!" Kate gasped, head instantly flying off her desk. "No! Leave me alone! I won't!"

The girl's outburst caused everybody in her class to jump and stare at her in confusion, but she wasn't aware of that: the girl was too busy trying to catch her breath to notice all the odd looks. Ever since her encounter with Daniel at lunch, the feeling of danger had grown to the point of crushing her stomach into a little ball. That's how she knew things were going to happen: her stomach would either tighten up or feel loose and airy depending on whether the situation was a good one or a bad one.

"Miss Sanders," Mr. Ross stated calmly, walking over to her desk, "is there a reason you're disturbing my class?"

"The bird," Kate whispered, shaking her head to wake herself up. "It's coming… the... the black wings are…"

"Er, you must have fallen asleep and started dreaming," the man sighed in dismay. "Try to stay awake in class, okay?"

"Huh?" Kate asked, looking up with dazed eyes when the snickers that rose up around her. "Oh... class... um, yes, sir, I'll do my best... I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Mr. Ross soothed, patting her head. "I know how rough your living situation is thanks to a certain Miss McKinley, so I'll let this one slide."

However, when the man went back to teaching his class, Kate dragged her backpack open and rummaged around for the book she'd been given.

"What are doing, weirdo?" Tiffany sneered, watching her with observant blue eyes. "You're acting even crazier than usual."

"Shut up, Tiffany," Kate stated seriously, not even paying attention to how the blonde girl stiffened; after a moment, a flash of lightning caught her attention and she glanced out the window to see that it had turned an odd shade of greenish gray. "Something's not right..."

"Uh, duh," the girl snapped, scowling at her with an angry expression. "I'd have to say it's probably you! Creep!"

Kate didn't respond and merely stared out the window with a confused expression: the clouds were flickering like an old movie... and even as she watched, they seemed to grow even darker somehow. After a moment of examining the frothing clouds, the girl flipped the book open and started scanning the pages; she'd been putting it off ever since she'd gotten it because she was scared of the truth. However, she couldn't wait any longer: the feeling of danger had become almost unbearable.

She spent an entire ten minutes skimming through sketches of odd-looking monsters and creatures that seemed rather disgusting, but just when she figured there might not actually be a connection between the book and her nightmares, she came to a page that held a drawn image of ten hooded figures riding frightening-looking horses.

Kate's eyes widened and her body jolted with the shock that went through her, catching Tiffany's attention: the blonde stared at her with a lifted brow.

"Something wrong, witch girl?" Madison sarcastically asked, batting her lashes with mock concern. "What is it?"

Kate ignored her and leaned forward, examining the names of the monsters that had been sketched onto the pages.

"Nazgul?" the albino wondered after a moment, lifting her head and blinking in confusion. "What's a Nazgul?"

"Um, how the hell should we know?" Brittany asked, planting her chin on her hands and letting out a sigh. "Just shut up like you normally do."

Tiffany's blue eyes flicked to stare at the page, but her nose wrinkled in disgust when she saw the sketch.

Daniel, however, surprised them by lifting his head with a skeptical expression.

"I didn't think you'd be a Lord of the Rings fan," he grunted, staring at the white-haired girl in confusion; Kate instantly whirled around. "You said Nazgul, right...? That's what those evil hooded things that stabbed Frodo in the first movie were called... right?"

"I wouldn't know, since I've never seen the movies," Kate stated seriously, gazing at him with unblinking eyes. "What are they about?"

"Well, I've only seen the first one, so I can't tell ya everything," Daniel sighed, putting his head down again, "but from what I remember, it's about a group of different people who band together in an effort to destroy an evil ring that this badass eye-monster wants. I think its name is Saurent or something."

Kate's eyes slowly widened and she whirled around with a terrified expression, not believing what she'd just heard.

"T-that movie wasn't based on a true story, r-right?" Kate squeaked, voice coming out so shaken that everyone stared at her. "It wasn't real, right?!"

"Did you just ask if Lord of the Rings was based on a true story?" Daniel snorted, lifting his head again and looking at her with an unamused expression. "Sorry, but are you joking? Or are you seriously that stupid?"

"Well, excuse me for not knowing anything about a movie I've never seen," Kate huffed, waving him off. "Sheesh, you didn't have to be so rude."

She didn't even notice the usual snickers and whispers that erupted: she read until the bell rang, then put her book away and stared out the window at the odd-looking sky. They weren't allowed to leave yet since there was a small announcement about the student council president transferring into their homeroom, but she hardly noticed: Erika Montgomery was given time to speak while Mr. Ross went to the office.

Unfortunately, that's also when things began to go downhill.

"Thanks for welcoming me here, but as you all know," Erika stated evenly, addressing the class with folded hands, "this half of the term is going to be a bit different when it comes to our academic rating, so let's do our best together in all of our classes, okay? Every single person sitting in this classroom contributes to the average grading system, which means that we'll be compared to all the other classes."

"Excuse me?" Tiffany suddenly called, lifting her hand. "I have a question about the seating chart."

"Yes?" Erika called, lifting her stunning blue eyes and looking at her with a confident expression. "What is it?"

"Well, is it okay if I change my seat?" Tiffany inquired, looking at her nails with a pouting expression. "I'm getting tired of this one."

"But… the school..." Erika faltered, staring at the girl in dismay. "It's all arranged by registration number."

"Well, we're starting a new semester," the blonde girl retorted, tossing her hair. "It'll give me a fresh start!"

"Why don't you just tell her the truth?" another girl muttered, looking up at her with a smirk. "Just admit that you don't want to sit next to the witch."

Kate didn't even blink when the class started sniggering, nor did she raise her eyes when Erika's expression wavered: several people immediately turned to look at the albino girl, but she purposely kept her face blank and stared at her hands. This was a pretty common thing, so she was used to being made into a laughing stock: every now and then, a daringly bold student would do something to get a little attention and make a fool out of Kate, so this didn't really bother her as much as it should have.

"Well, I was trying to spare her feelings a little… but now I guess I'll be more honest about it," the blonde girl sighed, standing up and cocking her hip; after a moment, she looked at everyone with a mocking grin. "For starters... she's so _morbid!_ I can't stand it anymore! She's always reading creepy books with dragons and spells and wizards or whatever, and don't even get me started on all the stuff that creeps me out! She's too weird to be my seating partner!"

"What'd you expect, Tiff?" a burly boy named Josh hooted, eliciting even louder fits of laughter. "She's a witch! She pretty much _lives_ on that crap!"

"Come on! Someone change seats with me!" the blonde girl wailed, flailing her arms in a mocking manner. "I don't wanna get cursed!"

"Please, stop it!" Erika called, futilely trying to speak over the uproarious laughter that filled the room. "Everyone, be quiet! I'll take the seat!"

"Thank you so much!" Tiffany laughed, shooting the downtrodden albino girl a smug look. "I'll feel much safer sitting as far away from this freak as possible."

_I'm not like that... _Kate silently protested, staring at her desk with unhappy violet eyes. _I'm not a witch…_

Unfortunately, nobody cared... and they most likely never would, so she kept her mouth shut.

When everybody started gathering their things, Kate was going to do so as well, but for the very first time in her memory... she was actually called out by the teacher when he walked back into the room. Everyone in the room was surprised, as well, since she normally never got in trouble during last hour.

"Kate, I'd like you to wait right here," Mr. Ross called after he walked into the room, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Whatever you do, don't leave school grounds: supposedly, there's an incident taking place outside right now concerning your privacy."

"Huh? Well, okay," the albino girl stammered, staring at the desk with an expression if startled dismay: everyone who'd been on their way out remained in the hallway with expressions of curiosity and excitement. She knew that whatever was about to go down would most likely be spread around the school if it was interesting… and that seriously made the girl feel sick to her stomach. She didn't want anymore attention. "I wonder what's going on...?"

After a few moments of staring at her desk, Erika walked over and tapped her shoulder.

"Your name is Katie, right?" the brunette asked, shouldering her bag. "Do you mind if I take a seat by you? I'm waiting for someone."

"Sure," Kate mumbled inaudibly, shaking her head when the girl sat down beside her; after a few moments of silence, the albino looked out the window… but soon after she did so, she felt another poke coming from behind. "Er, class is over, you know..."

"Oi, you could at least look at me when you're responding," Daniel grunted, sounding a little irritable; when Kate slowly turned around, she found herself staring straight into a set of fierce green eyes. Her pale cheeks instantly felt warm and her stomach flipped in an unfamiliar manner, so she swallowed to hide her unease and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Why do you let everyone bully you? I haven't seen you do a single thing to stop them, let alone speak up about it."

"I tried to make them stop harassing me in the beginning," Kate calmly explained, turning back around, "but I quit after I ended up in the emergency room over it a few months ago. Most of the guys in this school are a lot stronger than me… catch my drift?"

For several moments, there was nothing but silence… then a scrape met her ears and she glanced over her shoulder to see Daniel heading for the doors with a rigid posture. Several students parted and let him through, but since he didn't look back, Kate folded her hands and let out a sigh. For several unpleasant moments, she waited for Mr. Ross to come back with an unhappy expression. A flash of lightning illuminated the classroom windows as she sat there, making her feel even more grim than usual.

"You know?" Erika stated softly, making Kate wince. "I wanted to tell you something, officially, but... now I'm not sure if it's the right time."

"Just say whatever you need to and be done with it," Kate sighed, staring at her small white hands. "Please."

"Well, okay," the brunette sighed, looking at her with solemn blue eyes. "I'm in love with your twin brother, Nathaniel."

Another flash of lightning lit up the windows, but this one lasted longer than it should have.

In fact... it didn't even seem like lightning at all: Kate's eyes had gone blank because something within her, something terrifying, was being dissolved.

The dread... no, more accurately, the feeling of danger that had balled up in her stomach.

It was being let loose.

That's when she knew something terrible was about to happen... and somehow, she had a feeling that Erika's seemingly harmless statement had triggered it.

Kate stiffened when she felt a draft of air tickling the back of her neck and a presence entered her awareness. Several loose strands of hair drifted in front of her face as she sat there, staring at the chalkboard with enormous pink eyes. Erika was still talking, but she could no longer hear it: a ringing silence had filled her mind, blotting out everything around her. She felt, rather than heard, the breath of air that the person behind her took.

_I don't want to see…_ Katherine whispered silently, heart speeding up and pounding against her chest; the world around her faded out and tilted slightly as the ringing noise filled her ears, making her see black and red spots. _I don't want to see whoever is behind m_e…

Unfortunately, she felt as though dark and shadowy hands were reaching out to grab her from behind, so she steeled herself and turned around. The girl's amethyst eyes widened in shock as she beheld a man with waist-length platinum blonde hair: his skin was almost as pale as her own, and his eyes were the color of liquid silver. He was wearing a red and black outfit that seemed distinctly odd, and from what she could see, he was also abnormally tall. The girl felt her heart skip a beat: she didn't want to have anything to do with him.

She knew something terrible would happen if he came anywhere near her.

"W-who are you?" Kate abruptly demanded, catching the attention of several students. "How'd you get in here?"

"Huh?" Erika asked, staring at her in confusion before looking at the man as well; she instantly jumped and her eyes widened. "Whoa! When did he get here?"

"I've finally found you... I have been searching for you for a long time," the man replied in a blank tone; when he started moving towards her, Kate jumped out of her seat and whirled slightly so she was facing him. "Now that I've found you, the time has arrived for you to return."

"W-what...?" Kate stammered, staring at him with a blank expression. "Excuse me for being blunt, but what the hell are you _talking_ about?"

"You must come with me," he stated, continuing to move towards her. "I will explain later."

"_Hell _no!" Kate shouted, shaking her head in alarm. "I'm not going anywhere with a guy I don't know, so get back!"

_"The Nazgul have a arrived,"_ a disembodied voice whispered, making the girl jump. _"They are approaching."_

"What the hell was that?!" Kate squeaked, looking around in fright. "Who just said that?!"

"We were followed here," the blonde man stated simply, refusing to lower his eyes. "Come with me."

"Seriously, what's going on?!" Kate stammered, glancing at the students who were still in the room; however, when she realized that Tiffany, Alexa, Madison, and Brittany were still present and ogling at the scene in front of them, she let out a sigh of intense relief. "Okay, look… I know you girls don't like me, but _this_ is going too far. Could you make this guy go away now? He's really scaring me, okay?! You win! I'm scared!"

"Uh, excuse me?" Tiffany drawled, cocking her hip with an offended expression. _"We_ don't know this guy. What's his deal?"

"How the heck should _I_ know!" Kate snapped, clenching her fists. "I've never even seen him before!"

"This is weird," Erika stated seriously, getting to her feet and backing away with wary eyes. "How the heck did he get in here without anyone noticing?"

"Good question," Brittany sighed, tapping her chin. "We've been by the door, so one of us should have seen him."

Kate's eyes widened in alarm when he took another step forward; she immediately moved back, mouth trembling as she kept her distance.

"Hey, s-stop it!" she squeaked, lifting her hands. "Seriously, go away!"

"We must not delay any longer," the blonde man droned, moving forward and snatching her slender wrist; Kate squealed loudly and locked up in fright, causing several of the students standing in the doorway to jump. The girl's pupils contracted into pinpricks when she realized that the man's skin was colder than ice. "It is not safe here... you must come with me: we cannot waste time."

"Let go! Let go of me!" Kate shrieked, struggling to get out of his grasp. "Someone, help! Go get a teacher! _Ow! _That _hurts!_ Let me _go!"_

"There's no time to explain," the blonde man urged, jerking her forward with cold silver eyes. "You _will_ come with me."

"NOOOOOOO! GET OFF, YOU CREEP!" Kate screeched, jerking her hand out of his grasp with all of her strength and stumbling away from him; she ended up tripping over a chair and smacked into the wall, but she somehow managed to stay on her feet. "S-stay back! Don't come near me again!"

"K-Katherine, hey... um, what's going on?" Erika asked, watching as the man approached the cowering albino girl. "Hey, um, is… is this honestly for reall?! I mean... do you really need us to go get a teacher?! I can't tell if you're being serious right now!"

"I'm serious! I'm _dead_ serious! Hurry up and go get Mr. Ross!" Katie wailed, shakily picking up a math textbook and throwing it at the blonde man with a terrified expression; when he merely ducked and continued moving forward, the frail girl backed into the corner and pressed herself against the wall. She frantically scrabbled for the nearest object and happened upon a chalkboard eraser, which she threw with all of her strength; when he tilted his head and dodged it with no change in expression, her knees started shaking and she felt like passing out. "Stop it! Don't take another step! I-I don't know who you are, but I won't hesitate to hurt you if you don't leave me alone! Don't come any closer!"

"You are being foolish," the blonde man stated coldly. "Halt your insolent behavior."

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Katie shrieked, bursting into terrified tears. "NATHAN! NATHAN, HELP ME!"

"S-she's crying!" Madison scoffed, green eyes widening with a start. "Whoa! Dude, the witch is crying! Look!"

"Okay, it's official: this isn't a hoax," Tiffany muttered, whirling around and bolting out out of sight. "I'll be right back, Kate! Hold on for a bit!"

"Hurry!" the albino cried, hunching her shoulders and cowering down when the man slammed his hands down on either side of her. "EEEK!"

"There is no mistake here," the stranger stated, looking into her terrified eyes. "It is you... Tauriel."

"No! You're wrong! My name is Katie, not Tauriel!" Kate wailed, flailing her arms. "You've got the wrong girl! I don't know you, so leave me alone already!"

"How stubborn," the man sighed, narrowing his silver eyes; when he bent down on one knee and lowered his head with no expression whatsoever, the girl jumped with an extreme start. "I swear never to desert my post before your throne. I am your loyal servant."

"HUH?!" Kate choked, staring at him with hunched shoulders and wide eyes. "W-what the hell are you doing?!"

"Accept it!" the blonde man barked, making her jump. "If you value your life, accept it!"

"F-fine! I-I accept it!" Kate stammered, cowering against the wall with terror in her eyes. "N-now go away already! I did what you wanted, alright?!"

"What's going on here?!" Mr. Ross demanded, shouldering his way into the classroom with Tiffany close behind; the moment he took in the scene before him, his eyes widened and he blinked in surprise. "Excuse me, but who are you? Explain to me why you're harassing my student, otherwise I'll be calling the authorities and letting them handle this situation."

"This is none of your concern," the blonde retorted, glancing at the man with no change in his expression. "Leave us be."

Mr. Ross and everyone standing behind him stiffened in total surprise, since nobody had believed the guy would stand against a teacher: several of the smarter students left the entrance and hastily ran down the hall, sprinting at top speed towards the main offices. Nobody wanted to deal with a lunatic, especially if he had some sort of concealed weapon on him. Kate merely stared at her teacher with fearful eyes.

"What did you just say to me?" Mr. Ross demanded, glancing at Kate's terrified expression with furrowed brows. "While she's under the roof of this school, that girl is _all_ of my concern: she is one of _my_ students, and _her_ safety was entrusted to _me._ Now, can you rationally explain to me how a man your size managed to back a high school girl into a corner and still seem innocent? Speak up, sir! Now!"

"If you care so much about her safety," the blonde man stated in a low voice, "let her come with me: it is not safe here."

"What do you mean it's not safe?" the teacher scoffed, then turned and looked at Kate. "Miss Sanders, what's going on?"

Kate was just about to open her mouth when her eyes went blank.

She had a vision: death... everyone lying dead... and...

"GET DOWN!" the girl screeched, instinctively dropping to all fours and covered her head with both hands. "NOW!"

Some people, such as Erika, Tiffany, and a few frightened students hit the deck out of instinct; others chose to remain upright, her teacher included. Only a split second later, every single window in the classroom exploded in a shower of glass and wood, sending deadly shards flying into the room and eliciting several screams. For several moments, there was nothing but complete silence in the school halls outside of the classroom.

Then… Katherine's high-pitched screech of terror filled the air.

The entire classroom had been completely demolished within the span of a second: students lay on the floor with desks and chairs on top of them, some bleeding from the flying glass, others bruised from the wood that had flown off the wall. Katie's entire body quaked as she took in all of the upturned desks. However, when she twisted around and looked behind her, the girl's face completely drained of color: every single one of the windows had somehow imploded into the classroom. It looked as though a bomb had gone off...

Or rather, as though her vision had come to pass.

"W-what the hell?!" Kate spluttered, looking at the destruction in horror. "What just happened here?! The windows are gone!"

"Oh, my God..." Tiffany whimpered, staring at her unconscious friends with enormous eyes. "Madi?! Alexa?! Brit?!"

"S-Sanders…" Mr. Kenton hissed, clutching the albino's ankle and lifting his head; the girl's breath caught in terror when she realized that his left cheek had been sliced almost completely in half. "You knew... you knew this would happen, didn't you?! You set us up, didn't you?! Was this all your doing?!"

"Huh?! No!" Kate whispered, stiffening in horror when she glanced at all of her injured classmates. "No way! I swear, it wasn't me!"

"Liar!" Tiffany screeched, crawling over and clutching the front of the white-haired girl's blazer. "YOU WITCH! THIS IS YOUR FAULT, ISN'T IT?! ISN'T IT?! YOU CURSED MY FRIENDS! YOU CURSED THEM! YOU STUPID BITCH!"

"No! You're wrong!" Kate cried, clutching Tiffany's wrists with terrified tears in her eyes. "I didn't do it! I swear! I swear! It wasn't me!"

"LIAR!" Tiffany screeched again, grabbing her throat and tightening her fingers with a snarl. "YOU'RE A FREAK! A FREAK, GOD DAMN IT! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

"Tiffany, get off of her!" Erika yelped, lunging forward and smacking her arms off of the smaller girl. "It wasn't her fault! How could she possibly be behind this sort of thing?! It's only because of her that we knew it was going to happen, you moron! This isn't the first time she's saved someone's life like this!"

"It wasn't me," the girl stated in a shaken tone, shaking her head with hysterical pink eyes. "I didn't do it... I swear... it wasn't my fault!"

However, she locked up when the blonde man touched her shoulder, eyes widening even further.

When she woodenly turned her head and stared up at him with shaking limbs, his silver eyes were blank and almost... psychotic-looking.

"Come with me," he stated in a low tone, shadowed eyes widening and making her heart tighten. "Now."

Nope.

Finally reaching her wit's end, Kate jerked her leg free of her teacher's grasp and bolted for the door, screaming at the top of her lungs. The girl's white hair flew behind her like a gleaming cloud as she sprinted out of the room and took off down the hall at top speed; several students watched with frightened expressions as she flew past them with the blonde man chasing after her. The girl let out a shriek when she realized she was being followed and started running as fast as she could, dress shoes clacking against tile.

_Nathan, please,_ Kate silently wailed, panting as she sprinted down every hall she could find. _Please! Help me!  
><em>

When the albino girl skidded to a halt at the double stairways that led to the upper and lower floors, she instantly started heading towards the ground.

However, an enormous shadow unexpectedly blotted out the light coming through the windows for a brief moment, and she had another vision.

Kate let out a shriek and dove behind the stairway banister when all of the windows in the hallway behind her exploded with a deafening crash. A terrible wind flew into the school directly afterwards, making the girl shiver violently. Slowly rising to her feet, she stepped into the hall and looked around for the blonde man, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Then the air grew cold and her hair stood on end.

Kate looked up at the ceiling when a thin layer of shadow began to slide across it before turning and looking towards the source. However, her heart flew up her throat when she saw the first shadowy figure walking into sight... followed by five more. Her knees started shaking and she took a step backwards when they turned towards her. One of the hooded figures drew a familiar black sword and lifted it, uttering the same banshee-like screech she'd heard on the East River Bridge. Only this time it was louder, and much more vivid.

It made her skin crawl and had her heart racing.

"Oh, shit..." Kate fearfully whispered, backing away when they began gliding towards her. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit..."

When they screeched again, the girl let out a terrified squeak and flew down the stairs, heading for the library with her feet flying.

She needed to get to Miss McKinley.

However, just as she opened the door and the librarian blinked at her with a smile, the blonde man appeared out of nowhere.

The girl jumped when he gripped her wrist and prevented her from moving inside her sanctuary.

"No! Let me go!" Kate screeched, struggling against his powerful grip. "Ow! Let go of me! Miss McKinley! Miss McKinley, help me! HELP!"

"What on earth?!" the old woman gasped, standing up in an instant. "W-what are you doing to Katherine?! Let go of her, this instant!"

"Not here," the man snapped, making her flinch. "Go to the roof!"

"What do you mean?!" the girl screamed, still struggling to get away from him. "LET GO OF ME!"

However, the rest of her words were cut off by the sound of shattering glass and a high-pitched scream.

Kate instantly whirled around and gasped when she saw Miss McKinley staring at the library windows, which had exploded in a spray of glittering shards.

Kate immediately stumbled backwards, fully realizing for the first time that something seriously wrong was going on.

"W-what in the name of everything good just happened here?!" the elderly woman squalled, running over to the windows with enormous eyes. "W-what?!"

"If you do not wish to cause harm to anyone," the man rapped out, glaring into her eyes, "you must go to the roof!"

"What the hell is going on?!" Kate wailed, tearing past him and sprinting past a few confused-looking students who'd been on their way up the stairs. She ran up two complete flights of steps until she hit the entrance to the rooftop. A fierce wind assaulted her the moment she stepped outside, but once she was out in the open she doubled over to catch her breath: the girl instantly sank down to her knees and heaved for air. "What... the hell… is happening around here?! Why do all the… windows… keep blowing up?!"

"Kate?" a familiar voice choked, making the girl jump in surprise; she whipped around to see her brother sitting on the building that served as the rooftop door's foundation. "What are you doing here? And who the heck are you clinging to?!"

"Nathan, help me!" Kate shrieked, struggling when the man gripped her wrist. "Ow! Let go! Nate, help! He's a psycho! The classroom _blew up_ after he came in!"

_"_Wait,_ what's_ going on?!" Nathan scoffed, instantly getting to his feet. "What do you mean the classroom blew up?"

"All the windows exploded!" Kate wailed, bursting into hysterical tears. "Nathan, help me! Make this freak let me go!"

The albino boy shook his head and glanced at her in confusion, countenance becoming a bit apprehensive.

"Let go of my sister!" Nathan barked, moving to the edge of the rooftop; the stranger's grip instantly tightened to the point where Kate's wrist popped, causing her to let out a squeal of pain. "Hey! You're hurting her! I swear to God, let my sister go right now!"

That's when a deafening animal screech split the air.

Nathan glanced up only a split second before Kate did, but both twins turned a sickly shade of white when the saw what was resting in the air above them: a dragon the size of a small building was plummeting towards them from the sky. Kate's heart nearly halted when the frigid memory of her nightmares slammed into her gut. Her entire body instantly went limp: she was staring one of her visions clean in the face.

Then... an even more impossible sight met her eyes.

A giant eagle the size of Toni's house flew overhead and smashed into the dragon.

Right before her knees buckled, a disembodied voice whispered in her ear.

_It is often said that star-crossed lovers are reborn as twins,_ the voice whispered, _but if one of the lovers survives and the other does not... the fallen one will be reborn again... and again... until history allows them to meet their final fate together. Only then may they live happily ever after. _

"Who... are you?" Kate whispered, staring up at the blonde man with terrified amethyst eyes. "Why are you here?"

"I am the Gatekeeper," the blonde stated firmly, giving her an otherworldly expression. "I ferry the souls of the dead to where they belong. I have been looking for you because you do not belong here... you never did. It is Middle Earth that has claim on you."

Kate covered her ears, not wanting to listen, to hear, to live.

She wanted to pretend it was a bad dream.

Then again, in a way, that's exactly what it was: a nightmare. And the shittiest part was the fact that she was completely awake. Even worse than that was the Fox 37 news van sitting in front of the gate: the man Kate had saved was holding a microphone in his hand, mouth open and completely agape. The camerawoman was pointing the lens at the monstrous creatures battling on the rooftop. As far as Kate was currently concerned, things literally couldn't get any worse than they already were.

Sadly, she was wrong.

Things were about to get a whole lot worse, and fast.


	5. Chapter 5: The Gate Opens

**Chapter Five: The Gate Opens  
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Katherine was in shock.

Everything in her life seemed to be collapsing again, and this time, the little peace of mind she'd managed to salvage was fading away by the second.

Her eyes were large and blank as she sat there on her knees, watching two enormous creatures that shouldn't have existed battle it out above her.

"I-is that...?" Nathan finally hiccuped, choking on his own words. "Is that a… a _dragon__?!"_

His question was answered when the eagle was knocked towards the ground with a screech of pain, because not even a second later, the dragon descended and started shredding the rooftop with its claws. A fierce wind exploded from its wings, causing the twins to cover their faces. Kate twitched when the blonde man wrapped his arms around her waist and dove out of the way, eliciting a shriek from the albino girl.

The sound of glass exploding somewhere below and more screams caught Kate's attention.

_ It's the speed of the wings causing the implosions,_ she realized, shoulders tensing up in horror. _That thing is moving fast enough to send air shooting through the glass! That's what's making it explode._

"What is that thing?!" Kate screeched, looking up at the dragon-creature with a horrified expression. "It can't even be real, can it?!"

"T'is a Fell Beast," the blonde man replied, speaking as though it were the simplest question in the world; the albino girl twitched and looked at him with stunned amethyst eyes, wondering how he was acting so calm. "Huan! Come!"

Kate's jaw dropped when the air in front of her rippled in a circular manner: only a split second later, an enormous hole shredded itself into existence and a wolf-like creature stampeded out of it. The girl instantly shook her head and stared at the rip that had opened up in the air right in front of her, but soon the dust obscured her range of vision and the image faded with a ripple. Within seconds, she was unable to tell whether she had been seeing things... but unfortunately, the wolf in front of her was much too real.

"W-what is going on here?!" Kate cried, scrabbling backwards in alarm. "What the hell is going on around here?!"

"W-w-w-wha…?" Nathan squawked, staring at the fighting animals in shock. "What the fuck is happening?! This is totally insane!"

"Kwilanna!" the blonde man barked, lifting his hand. "Come!"

"H-huh?!" Kate whimpered, staring at the ground with large eyes as a huge black hole opened up on the rooftop; the girl gaped as a brilliant light exploded from the portal and shot towards the sky… but when it vanished, a plant-like woman with several features resembling a tree was standing in front of them with her arms folded. "W-what the heck is _that?!"_

"She is Kwilanna," the blonde man replied, glancing at her with cold silver eyes. "She will help you."

Once again, he was acting as though his simple words explained everything.

"Hey! Leave my sister alone!" Nathan shouted, sliding off the roof and running towards the blonde man. "Get off of her!"

The man didn't respond due to the fact that he was busy pressing something into Kate's hands. The girl looked down at it with stricken eyes, unable to process half of what was really happening. After a few moments of blinking at the object in her palms, her mouth fell open in alarm and her head flew back up to stare at the blonde man's face.

"Take this sword and keep it close to you," he stated softly. "This is the proof that you belong to Middle Earth."

"M-Middle Earth?" Kate squeaked, looking down at the object again in alarm. "What the hell is Middle Earth?!"

"Who _are_ you?!" Nathan shouted, stomping his foot in anger. "What's going around here?!"

"I am Gwendolan," the blonde man called, silver eyes flashing to an obscure beetle black for a moment. "You need not know more."

"Bullshit! Explain what's going on here!" Kate cried, shakily holding out the sword. "I-I don't want this, so take it back and tell me what's happening!"

"I've come to take you back to Middle Earth," the man explained, giving her a firm look. "This plane of existence is not where you belong."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Nathan squawked, bolting forward and gripping his sister's frail arm; with possessive motions, he dragged the girl away from the blonde and stood in front of her with fierce eyes. "Screw all the crazy talk about this Middle Earth place! Those monsters shouldn't even exist! It's not possible, so how the hell did they get here?! And why do you want my sister?!"

"The Fell Beast is a creature born in the fires of Mordor," Gwendolan explained, looking into the boy's eyes. "It followed me here."

"The fires of what?!" Nate scoffed, furrowing his brows. "What the hell is Mordor?!"

He ignored the question in favor of turning back to the girl, who seemed to be going into shock.

"Slay the Fell Beast with your sword," the blonde finally commanded, looking straight at Kate. "End its existence."

"What?!" the albino girl shrieked in horror, looking at the weapon in her hands. "Oh, _hell_ no! There is _no way_ in _hell!"_

"Hurry!" the blonde man barked, looking up at the giant beast with intense silver eyes. "It's coming back!"

"Why can't _you_ kill that thing?!" Nathan cried, fearfully dancing from foot to foot. "I mean, you know what it is, right?!"

"I cannot shed the blood of another," Gwendolan hissed, narrowing his eyes in anger. "Nor can I intervene in events that take place in any world. It is the ultimate Law."

"You're insane! I can't do it!" Kate wailed, throwing the sword on the ground. "I don't want to do this anymore! I can't kill it!"

The man's eyes widened when the weapon hit the ground.

"Kwilanna, take her somewhere safe," he thunderously commanded. "The Nazgul will be here any moment."

Almost immediately, the plant-creature whisked behind Kate and wrapped its arms around the albino girl's middle. Katherine yelped when she was swept off her feet, frantically kicking her legs at the air in an attempt to get back down. Her breath hitched when the creature abruptly crouched down.

"No! Stop!" Kate shrieked, frantically flailing for her brother's hand. "Nathan! Don't let them take me! Nathan, help me! HELP!"

"K-Katie, fight it off!" Nathan shouted, lunging forward and pulling on the creature's bark-like arms. "Come on! You can do it! Don't let it take you!"

"This doesn't concern him," Gwendolan chided, giving the girl a fierce look. "He does not need to involve himself with you any further."

"I won't go anywhere without my brother!" the girl screeched, squeezing her eyes shut. "He's all I have left! Don't take him away from me!"

For several moments, there was nothing but the sound of wind and otherworldly screeches to fill the air.

"Kwilanna…" the blonde man called, closing his eyes. "Take the boy as well."

"W-whoa! Put me down!" Nathan screamed, eyes bugging out of his head when the plant-like creature tugged him off the ground as well. "No!"

Both twins starting screaming hysterically when the plant-beast jumped into the air and carried them hundreds of feet into the sky.

"Help!" Kate screeched, flailing her legs at the open air before bursting into tears. "Someone, help us! Someone!"

Nathan did nothing but scream at the top of his lungs as the school campus dropped away.

The camera woman below instantly pointed up at them and let out an exclamation, but when the grey-eyed reported saw Kate and Nate flailing in the grasp of the flying monster, his eyes widened and he started shouting something that couldn't be heard. The group of people standing outside the news van instantly packed up their gear in a flurry and hopped into the vehicle. Kate buried her face in the plant-creature's rough chest and tried not to pass out. She felt her hair whipping around as she was carried away from the school, but she was so terrified of the chasm below her that she refused to open her eyes and see what was going on around her.

She didn't even open her eyes when it started raining and the sound of ocean surf met her ears.

She couldn't stop shaking and her face seemed glued to the creature's bark-like torso.

"We have arrived," a feminine voice whispered, reverberating in her ears. "Fear not, for you are safe now."

"Put me down," Kate whined, not moving a muscle. "I'll believe it when my feet are on solid ground!"

After a few moments of silence, she felt her weight being shifted around and her dress shoes abruptly touched a hard surface.

Kate's eyes flew open wide and she instantly sank down to her knees, breathing hard and pupils dilated: she looked as though she had gone into a severe state of shock. After taking a moment to catch her breath, the girl glanced up and saw her brother struggling to breathe. Nathan was lying flat on the ground, clawing at the stone with shaking fingers in an attempt to get a firm hold on the flat stone. He honestly looked sick to his stomach, and Kate didn't blame him in the least.

She was having trouble keeping her own breakfast down.

"W-what just happened to us...?" Nathan demanded, looking up at Kate through his soaked white hair. "What the hell just happened here?!"

"Why are you asking me?!" Kate wailed, pushing her sopping white hair out of her eyes. "I have no clue what's going on!"

"K-Kate... I'm asking because of your nightmares," Nathan croaked, staring at her with hostile eyes. "You knew this would happen, didn't you?!"

"No! I didn't think it was real!" the girl protested, shaking her head in shock. "Nathan, this is insane! Things like this aren't supposed to happen!"

"It _is_ happening, though!" Nathaniel shouted, glaring at his twin in outrage. "Impossible or not, it's really happening! How do you explain that?!"

"Stop yelling at me!" Kate screeched, leaning forward and startling her brother into jerking backwards. "I'm telling you, it's not my fault!"

"Are you all right?" a familiar voice asked, making the silver-haired girl jump with terrified amethyst eyes; both white-haired teens whirled to the side and stared at Gwendolan, who had somehow appeared on the stone pier without warning. "If so, we must leave now."

As if to emphasize his words, an inhuman screech came from the direction of the school, causing the teenagers to jump in alarm.

Then another screech came from the ocean.

Kate whirled around and looked in the direction of the Statue of Liberty with frightened violet eyes, mouth trembling and shoulders shaking; Nathan stood up and backed away from the edge of the pier, struggling to stand up straight despite his shaking knees. Kate merely stumbled backwards and fell on her butt, covering her mouth with both hands and staring at the giant snake-like monster that was now flying towards them.

A flash of lightning illuminated the Fell Beast from behind, making the twins cringe.

"P-please, help us!" Kate begged, looking up at Gwendolan with huge eyes. "Please! Make that thing stop attacking us!"

"Take this," the blonde man stated, holding out the sword once again. "If we are to survive, you must kill the Fell Beast."

"I-I can't do it!" the girl squeaked, frantically shaking her head. "I can't kill it!"

"Give it to me!" Nathan snapped, violently shoving his sister aside. "I'll do it!"

"Nathan, no!" the girl protested, looking at her brother in horror. "Are you crazy?!"

"The Sword of Salvation can only be wielded by her," Gwendolan firmly explained. "It will not draw for another soul."

"Why?!" Nathan snarled, face twisting up in anger. "She doesn't know how to fight! How could she possibly kill that thing?!"

"My brother is right!" Kate exclaimed, flailing her arms. "I have no idea how to use a sword!"

"Then I will lend you the soul of a warrior, one who will protect you," the blonde man stated simply, making both teens freeze. "Tauriel! Come!"

Kate glanced down at the ground when something shot out of it, but the girl let out a shriek when she was engulfed by a smokey substance: her arms immediately snapped down to her sides, pinned by something unseen, and she felt as though she were losing her breath. Nathan jumped away from her when she struggled and screamed again, fighting to move her arms and get away from the creature that had latched itself onto her body.

He jumped when she arched her back and wailed.

Behind her, a smokey woman with fiery red hair slowly began to appear: the woman had her arms wrapped around the albino girl's torso in an almost loving embrace, and her long hair was billowing around in a weightless manner. However, the frightening part was that Nathan recognized the apparition from somewhere.

"Emily...?" Nathan whispered, pupils slowly dilating in shock.

"No! No, no, no! Stop it! Stop!" Kate wailed, fighting to move her arms. "NO! Take it off! Take it off! It's hurting me!"

"K-Kate!" Nathan squawked, staring at the smokey woman when she opened her translucent blue eyes and slid into the smaller girl's body. "Kate! Look!"

"Nathan, help me!" the girl squealed; however, her eyes snapped open when the tendrils disappeared. "H-huh? It's gone…?"

"What the hell...?" Nate whispered, staring at the fading redhead with enormous pink eyes. "Who... no, _what_ was that...?"

"I-I don't know! Where did it go?!" his sister shakily demanded, turning around and staring at Gwendolan with horrified eyes. "Please, take it off! Take that thing off me right now! I want it gone! Make it go away! Please, just take it off!"

_The Nazgul are coming..._ a feminine voice suddenly whispered, making the girl's pink eyes widen in alarm. _Danger is near._

"EEEEEK!" Kate squealed, covering her ears with both hands. "No! This is _not_ happening! I'm hearing a voice in my head!"

"Here," the man murmured, holding out the sword. "Take this."

"No! I won't do it!" Kate sobbed, shaking her head in protest; however, the girl's eyes widened when her arm started moving on its own, taking the sword against her will and drawing it from its sheath. Her face drained of color and tears spilled down her cheeks when she held the weapon out in front of her with a practiced stance. "H-huh?! W-w-what's going on?! My body is… my body is moving on its own! Nathan! Nathan, help! Make it stop! I can't stop! Please, somebody, help me! My body won't... it won't... no! No more!"

"It's coming!" Nathan yelped, pointing at the winged monster. "What do we do?!"

"Whatever you do, don't close your eyes," Gwendolan whispered, icy breath tickling her ear. "I leave the rest to you."

"No! No, wait!" Kate shrieked, looking at him with a terrified expression before staring straight ahead once again; the albino girl's pink eyes widened in horror when a gale of ferocious wind blasted her long hair out of her face, for the Fell Beast was soaring at her at an impossible speed. She could see the water behind it flying towards the sky as it soared towards her, and the girl felt her heart thudding madly as her arms drew back as if to swing at it. "No way... this can't be happening... no! NO! NOOO!"

Kate's heart stopped when she felt her arms swinging the blade.

_This isn't real,_ she whispered silently, pink eyes blank and full of tears. _It's not real... it's not real... it's not real... please, God...  
><em>

Her mind went numb when she heard the sound of metal rending flesh.

The sound of a monster's screech cutting off and going silent forever.

Then nothing but red...

Red rivers that now stained the white pier with an ended life...

Kate stared at the dead monster with a stricken expression, every muscle in her body shaking violently and eyes wide with the shock of what she'd just done: her mouth was open wide and her breathing was irregular, but the only thing she could see was the red that had stained the blade and her entire left sleeve. Crimson rivers trailed off the edge of the pier and into the ocean as the rain washed them away, but no amount of rain would ever take away the memory of what she'd just done.

She felt her entire body go numb in an instant.

"Red..." she whispered, staring at the concrete with shaking muscles. "Red... rivers..."

This had already happened once before... so why?!

Why again?!

Again, she was seeing these rivers... the rivers that stained the earth with a life that would no longer continue moving forward.

The rivers that would surely lead to a funeral... a funeral like the one that had been given to her sister.

Emily's funeral... the older sister that had once been Katherine's closest friend.

Inside the red liquid that was flowing across the concrete towards the ocean, she could see everything... the sidewalk with the colorful shops, the adults who'd stopped to ask how they were doing... and herself, as a little girl, walking beside a beautiful teenage girl with shoulder-length red hair. In the reflection of the blood trailing across the ground, she could see a world that had been lost to her for a long time.

A world she had destroyed with her own mind.

Emily had been walking beside her... but unlike Katherine, she had been so pretty.

Beautiful face, pale skin, big blue eyes… auburn hair that gleamed like fire... a dimple in her left cheek and a little dent in her chin. A cheerful girl who joked around with the people she passed on the streets. Kate had been terrified that day since she'd had nightmares about the same red rivers running across black stone. She had told Emily not to go... over and over again... had begged not to go out to the dentist, to reschedule. It wasn't any surprise that Emily hadn't listened... she'd forced the girl to go regardless of her fright.

That's how they'd gotten to the dentist to get her tooth filled.

After all, they lived in a metro area only a few miles away from the main part of New York City... their side of town had almost no violence, little crime, and very safe neighborhoods. Katherine's eyes filled with tears when she saw that day being replayed in the blood running across the concrete. They had been walking home... her hand had bumped Emily's because the two of them were that close together.

Then... Emily patted Katie's cheek, walked over to a patch of grass, picked a little pink flower, and handed it to her younger sister with a grin.

"_You were a brave girl today,_" Emily sighed, grinning when a flush covered Katie's face. "_Nothing bad happened, see? There were no red rivers: we're safe._"

For a moment, she'd almost believed her sister... and so, Katie had attempted to take the flower...

And she'd tripped over the uneven concrete.

Emily had grabbed her arm in an attempt to steady her just as the sound of screeching tires filled the air. Before the little girl knew what was happening, the sports cars careened around the corner: she'd heard the gunfire... seen the jerk that went through Emily's entire body. Felt the hot blood start spray all over her her face. Her side. Her arm. Her hand.

The hand that Emily's had just been bumping against.

When the older girl's body had tilted past her, Kate hadn't really understood what was going on. She'd touched her crimson-coated cheeks in shock and turned her head just as her sister landed on her stomach. Emily was lying there on the ground with a huge hole in her temple: a growing puddle of blood was already pooling around her face. Kate blinked at her body, not understanding the red that had flown everywhere… not understanding why her big sister was no longer moving, or even why her large blue eyes had become still.

For a long moment, she simply hadn't understood.

However, when it hit her, the girl's stomach tightened: it suddenly felt as though a large fist had clutched her heart.

As though someone were squeezing it out of anger.

Eyes widening and mouth opening as the unbearable pressure filled her, the little girl had let out a screech that had traveled up and down the streets.

Her knees had given out when she'd tried to move forward, so she'd settled for crawling over to her sister, frantically pawing at the older girl's shirt.

"_Emily!_" Katie had shrieked, shaking her body. "_Please, wake up! Open your eyes! You promised! You promised you wouldn't ever leave me alone! You said we were safe! You promised there would be no red rivers! You can't! Help! Help us! Somebody, please, help my big sister!_"

Nobody came... nobody had been brave enough to try.

She was left sitting there, all alone, beside her sister's body for almost six hours before the police arrived.

"_HELP MY SISTER!_" the little girl wailed, voice seeming to echo into the hauntingly red world. "_Somebody, please!_"

However, her mouth closed and she stared since the older girl's eyes still weren't moving: her face had gone completely slack.

She hadn't even closed her eyes.

"_Emily!_" Katie had wailed, smacking the older girl's arms. "_EMILY! EMILY! EMILY!_"

However, there had been no response... no amount of chafing, punching, or smacking had any affect... and when reality had come crashing down that her sister was gone forever, the horrible feeling that had taken hold of her heart turned so black that it nearly crushed her. For the first time in her life, Kate hadn't been able to breathe... as though she'd been falling beneath an ocean of shadows... her tears had started flowing, but her expression had gone blank.

Had stayed blank.

"This is not the only enemy pursuing us," Gwendolan stated evenly, jerking her blank eyes up. "You must show your trust and come along with me."

"No..." Kate whispered, not even registering her body's actions; the girl dropped the sword and stumbled away from the monster's corpse, muscles shaking violently and eyes full of hysteria. Without another word, she turned around and stumbled over to her gaping brother, ignoring how he flinched away in favor of collapsing into his arms. Kate buried her face in Nathan soaked blazer, shuddering violently and trying to erase the memories of the creature's death from her mind; she couldn't do it, and that one simple face caused her to burst into a fit of hysterical tears. "It wasn't my fault, Nathan… not my fault… the red rivers… it wasn't me… I didn't want... just... no more..."

"Kate..." Nathan choked, staring at her in horror. "Kate, calm down!"

"Tauriel, shift into your dormant state," Gwendolan commanded, stepping forward and gripping Kate's arm. "She has seen enough."

The girl flinched when she was jerked out of her brother's grasp and lifted into Gwendolan's arms..

"NOOO!" Kate screeched, flailing around and hitting him in the face. "PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN! LET GOOOOOO!"

"Put her down!" a distant voice shouted, making the blonde man turn; a familiar van had been parked near the edge of the pier. The man that Katherine had saved was standing on the edge of it with fearful but determined eyes, and not far behind him was the camerawoman. "You're being broadcasted on national television, sir: put the girl down and back away from her until the authorities get here."

"This is none of your concern," the man stated, ignoring how the girl screeched again and started kicking at the air. "She does not belong here."

"Bastard..." Nathan hissed, getting to his feet and glaring at the blonde with tense shoulders. "Quit talking about this psychotic shit and let go of my sister."

When Gwendolan turned to look at him, the boy's lips were drawn back and his eyes were flinty.

"Calm yourself," the gatekeeper stated firmly. "Was it not your wish? For her to disappear?"

"NO!" Nathan barked, shoulders tensing when Kate's head flew to look at him with startled eyes. "GET OFF MY SISTER!"

Then, before another word could be spoken, he charged forward with his fist drawn back. However, before he could land the blow, Nathan was lifted off the ground by the plant-like creatures and dragged into the air. He instantly let out a scream, since he was carried out over the Atlantic ocean despite his futile attempts at getting away.

"HELP ME!" Kate wailed, thrusting her hand out in the direction of the grey-eyed man; he was standing frozen, like the rest of the news crew with stunned eyes. "HELP ME! PLEASE!"

"They cannot and will not do anything to save you," Gwendolan stated firmly, making the girl twitch and look at his face. "You do not belong here with them."

So saying, the man's silver eyes began glowing with a brilliant golden light, which made the girl's jaw drop open.

With an abrupt impact to the air, a set of gorgeous feathered wings exploded from his back and shredded the back of his shirt. Kate stared at the man's wings with a stunned expression, soaked white hair billowing around in the ensuing gale as she tried to comprehend what was happening to her. None of this seemed like it could be possible… and yet, the proof was right in front of her: she was being held in the arms of a winged man who had forced her to slaughter a monster that shouldn't have even existed.

"What _are_ you?" Kate whispered in horror, staring into his glowing eyes with a terrified expression. "You aren't human!"

"No, I am not," Gwendolan replied in a thunderous voice, gripping the sword and leaping high into the air. "I am a gatekeeper."

Kate shrieked when he flapped his wings, throwing her skinny arms around his neck to keep from falling back to the ground.

She thrust her hand out to the group of reporters with enormous eyes, her final gesture of pleading for help.

When the winged man flew over to where the strange creature was hovering with her brother, something on Gwendolan's forehead began to shine like a star and the a huge ripple exploded across the ocean's surface. The girl watched with horrified eyes as something deep under the water began to glow and swirl around. Kate began shivering when the sea began to sink downward in a circular manner, and she winced when a fierce wind slammed into her: after a few moments of staring at the strange development below her, the albino realized with a horrified jolt that a glowing hole had opened up beneath the ocean's surface, which was causing the water to drain into the epicenter.

Kate let out a shriek when Gwendolan dove towards the whirlpool; her brother joined in when the creatures holding him dropped as well; both teenagers continued screaming as they went flying into the epicenter of the storm. Kate had an abrupt mental flash of Ariel falling into the sea as Ursula towered above her before the light engulfed her, but this was much more real. She was no mermaid… and this was no dream… which meant that she was in very real trouble.

However, the girl's stomach flipped and she let out a choking gasp as her sense of up and down shifted in a dizzying manner, and all of a sudden she was being carried towards the sky: the girl closed her eyes and tried not to vomit as she was carried out of the vortex, but once her head stopped spinning she opened them again and glanced down at the ocean.

Her jaw instantly dropped and she stiffened in Gwendolan's arms.

"The sea!" Kate wailed, looking at the water's surface in horror. "What happened to it?!"

"Kate!" Nathan shouted, voice coming from far away. "Kate, help me!"

"Where am I?!" the albino girl shrieked, flailing around in Gwendolan's arms when the man flapped over to the winged eagle she'd seen earlier; without speaking a word, he set the girl down on top of the animal's back and fell away from it, long blonde hair vanishing as he flew away. "No, stop! Where are you going?! Don't you dare just leave me here! Nathan! Nathan, where are you?! Nathan, help me!"

Not long after, however, the blonde man returned with her flailing brother and set him down on top of the eagle.

Then he vanished again, dissolving in a spray of golden light.

"W-w-w-w-what the f-f-f-fuck is g-g-g-g-going on?" the boy squeaked, muscles locking up as he looked around. "T-t-t-t-this isn't n-n-n-n-normal!"

"Where are we?" Kate whispered, staring down at the ocean with a pale face. "That isn't the New York harbor... where the hell are we?!"

Unfortunately, she got no answer from below or above.

There was nothing but the sound of a thundering ocean to answer her questions.


	6. Chapter 6: Through the Looking Glass

**Chapter Six: Beyond the Looking Glass**

It was dark... but this time, it was the type of darkness that came when the sun went down.

Night had abruptly fallen on the world, and a strange-looking moon was being reflected on the dark water of the ocean. The intensity of the lunar reflection was weaving across the waves as the eagle carrying Kate descended: the terrified girl could see nothing but the ocean churning below her. However, this ocean looked extremely strange. They had somehow dove into the sparkling whirlpool and come out of it facing the opposite direction: that was most likely the reason behind why Kate felt so dizzy and disoriented...

"I feel like I'm gonna throw up," Nathan croaked, eyes squeezed shut; he jolted every time the eagle's wings flapped. "When is this thing gonna land?!"

"I don't know, but I hope it's soon," Katherine whispered, shivering when her brother wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Nate...? I'm scared."

"Me too!" the boy snapped, shivering violently as the cold wind assaulted them. "What the hell is happening here?! Where are we?"

"How am I supposed to know?!" Kate cried, feeling her stomach lurching when the eagle unexpectedly veered to the left; she leaned forward and clutched the feathers in front of her with shaking fingers, trying not to hyperventilate. "Normally, I'd be fine with falling, but this isn't how I want to die!"

"Shut up and quit squirming," Nate bawled, clutching her stomach with tight arms when the eagle started soaring towards the sky. "AAAAH! It's going UP!"

"Hold on and don't move," the girl shouted, digging her fingers into the feathers. "We can do this! We can do this! I think!"

Lifting her violet eyes with a stricken expression, the albino once again took in the wide, dull expanse of the sea in an attempt to figure out why it looked so different. Unfortunately, all she could see were the tops of the waves being bathed in the moonlight: the glowing whirlpool continued to grow in size until it was practically a mile wide. The waves rose up around them in concentric rings before breaking into whitecaps. However, Kate could feel nothing of the oceanic hurricane, and soon they were too high up to see even the moonlight weaving across the storm-tossed seas.

"K-Kate!" Nathan abruptly shouted. "LOOK!"

The alarm in his voice made Kate jump, but when she followed her brother's finger... her eyes widened.

A multitude of dragon creatures were leaping out of the whirlpool and flying into the air.

The girl's eyes instantly went blank when she saw the six hooded creatures from before riding on them, and she locked up in horror.

Somehow, in that moment, she instinctively _knew _that they were coming for her.

To kill her.

The winged creatures raced from up from the sea, screeching like banshees and sending ice flowing through the pale girl's veins.

Kate started shaking violently: if they didn't get away, she and her brother would be ripped into pieces.

"W-what are those things?" the girl squeaked, looking at the hooded wraiths riding the dragons. "Are we going to get away?"

"That is hard to tell," the eagle unexpectedly answered, making the twins jump. "Do not panic and all may yet be well."

Kate shivered: animals were _not_ supposed to talk.

"LOOK OUT!" Nathan abruptly shouted, eyes widening after he chanced a glance at the moon. "DRAGON!"

Kate's head flew up as well, and and she caught a flash of weightless black fabric soaring at her before the eagle turned without warning, sending her weight flying to the side; letting out a shriek, the girl dug her fingers into the feathers below her and hung on tightly as her legs went flying off of the eagle's back. Her brother yelped and clung to her waist, dangling in an even more precarious manner. However, not even a second later, something dark seared past the giant eagle's side and fell away towards the ocean.

The albino girl shuddered and tried not to vomit when the creature she was riding righted itself.

When she was once again sitting on it's back, her stomach flipped and she started panicking like any rational girl.

"What was that thing?" Kate shrieked, clutching the eagle's feathers so tightly that her knuckles had turned bone white. "It almost slammed into us!"

"Draw your sword," the animal suddenly commanded, pulling back and flapping its monstrous wings to hover in the air. "It is an ambush: the Nazgul have us cut off."

"What do you mean?" Kate squeaked, peering into the darkness. "Where are they?!"

However, she twitched when another dragon unexpectedly came ripping towards them out of the shadows.

It wasn't until the last second that she spotted the wraith on its back: a long, crooked black sword was being held towards the sky in a familiar pose.

"Oh, my God!" Nathan cried, mouth dropping open in fright. "MOVE!"

"Oh, SHIT!" Kate shrieked, smacking the eagle's back. "FLY! FLY! HURRY!"

However, with a force that made her joints crack, her knees abruptly clamped to the beast's sides on their own accord and an icy sensation crawled up her spine: Kate let out a shriek when her body peeled itself from the eagle's back, tiny hands releasing its feathers and arms preparing for battle. Nathan's face paled when outline of the smokey woman once again appeared, but this time, it was literally outlining his sister's form.

The girl drew the sword she'd been given against her will, pink eyes filling with tears.

"Kate!" Nathan barked, making her flinch. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm not doing anything, Nathan! My body is moving it's own!" Kate wailed, struggling to stop herself from moving any further; the girl's arm continued to extend, holding out the sword with her right hand and gripping the eagle's feathers her left. "No! I don't want to! Please, stop! Don't make me kill it!"

Her plea went ignored.

When the two beasts closed on each other like storms about to collide, Kate let out an earsplitting scream: just as the dragon dove past the bird, her sword deflected the crooked black one and sliced into the beast the Nazgul was riding on. The hooded monster let out an ear-splitting screech when the Fell Beast let out a death roar. The girl instantly closed her eyes, feeling sick to her stomach. However, the moment her eyes closed, her arm stopped moving and the sword halted its motion.

Nate blinked when the redheaded apparition manipulating his sister froze and seemed to struggle violently.

"Open your eyes!" the eagle commanded. "Tauriel cannot defend you otherwise!"

"No!" Kate shrieked, shaking her head. "I don't want to kill! No more! No more! Make this stop! Make it go away!"

"Do it, Katherine!" Nate cried, clutching her arm. "Just do it!"

When she refused, the eagle veered around in a circle and doubled back; Kate did nothing but keep her eyes shut.

She was _not_ going to cause anymore death: if shutting her eyes stilled the sword, that's what she would do.

Hell, she would blindfold herself if she had to: nothing would stop her from fighting against the ghost trying to possess her.

When the eagle swerved to the left, a muffled thud met their ears: Kate and her brother were instantly both thrown forward so roughly that it was almost as though the beast had collided with a wall. When she heard the screech of a wounded bird, her stomach flipped maddeningly: before she could grasp what was happening, the giant creature flipped over in the air with an arrow sticking out of its body. Kate's legs immediately lost their grip and quite suddenly... nothing was beneath her.

"Huh?" she whispered, expression going blank as the world tilted upright. "No way..."

"GYAAAAAAHHHHH!" Nate screamed, clutching her waist with terrified eyes as the two of them fell away from the eagle. "KAAAAAAATE!"

Katherine's mind went blank as she and her brother began to fall towards the earth in what felt like slow motion: her violet eyes stared vacantly at the sky, thigh-length hair billowing around her frame like a cloud of molten platinum. Her arms slowly stretched out toward the stars that had surrounded her—seeming to be calling to the heavens as her clothes billowed around. When they started spinning, Nathan's grip on his sister was lost and he went flying in a different direction, screaming hysterically.

As Katie plummeted towards the ocean so far below, however, her vacant eyes fell upon yet another cloaked figure riding another giant dragon. When it screeched at her, her arm immediately swung the sword, and she felt the impact of steel against steel as she deflected being skewered by the wicked-looking weapon it was holding. She heard her own horrified scream as she plummeted down towards the sea.

Then there was nothing: no sight, no sound, no taste or touch or thought.

Only the sensation of falling through an endless night.

She slammed into the ocean headfirst and instantly tried to take a breath of air, which only caused a large amount of salt water to flood her nostrils and choke her. Her first coherent thought was to get back to the surface and take a deep breath before she drowned—but the girl soon realized that she was caught in the middle a raging ocean current. Even though her school clothes were weighing her down, Kate frantically struggled to kick her way to the surface. Before she could make it there a huge wave slammed into her body and she flipped around like crazy.

She floundered as the salt burned her eyes and roared down her throat...

Then her head unexpectedly broke the surface.

The albino girl just managed to take a breath of air and let out a short-lived shriek before another monstrous wave slammed down on her, sending her spinning beneath the waves a second time. The tiny albino girl was thrown around beneath and above the ocean so many times that she lost count of the jarring blows. She couldn't feel her body anymore, not even when the waves slowly eased up and she felt something beneath her body. By the time the battering ended, the poor girl was freezing. Katherine lay there for what felt like hours, staring up at the black sky with a vacant expression.

She could hear the sound of crashing waves... she could feel the spray of the ocean on her face... but she could barely move.

When she had the energy to sit up, the girl slowly turned over on her side and raised her head. She had been washed onto a sandy beach with her legs half in and out of the water. A big wave broke against the shore, washing sand from tendrils of her silver hair. Her whole body hurt: the ache in her arms was excruciating, her legs felt as though she'd just run from Molly's house to the school ten times over, her head was pounding with a migraine, and somehow... despite the pain, she had survived the fall into the ocean and made it to the shore.

When the girl tried to crawl back to her feet, her muscles were so stiff that she could barely move.

Little by little, the pain began to subside.

When motion returned to her limbs, she carefully sat up and dusted the sand off of her chest: her right hand was still gripping the hilt of the sword, so she apparently hadn't dropped it even during her fight to stay alive in the raging ocean. She examined the rest of her body and found no major injuries aside from the scratches and bruises that Molly had given her the previous day. It was really nothing out of the ordinary, so she ran her hands across her face and shakily stood up.

"What kind of nightmare am I stuck in...?" Kate whispered, looking down at her soaked school uniform. "This isn't normal."

That's when it came back to her... the fierce struggle with the beasts, their blood drenching her... the sound of the waves as she fell from the sky.

Almost immediately, her stomach lurched and she vomited onto the sand.

Sobbing, she frantically crawled into the ocean: the water was cold enough to cut her in two, but her only desire was to wash the bloody filth from her face and hands. By the time she had returned to her senses, she was shivering so badly she could do little more than crawl. When she made it back on solid ground, she burst into tears once again: she wept with fear and revulsion, wept until her voice was hoarse, until there were no tears left inside to come out. Then she merely stared off into space with the pain of her own actions slicing her heart to shreds.

She had killed another living creature.

She had become a murderer... just like the people who had killed her sister.

Her eyes slowly closed and she curled up into a ball.

During the peak of Emily's funeral, Kate and Nate had both been completely alone in the church: nobody had come aside from them because nobody had cared about their family in the first place. The two of them had been standing in front of their sister's coffin and crying their eyes out with nobody to hold but each other... and around that time, both gangs had showed up in black clothes.

With their hands raised and police officers behind them.

Apparently, someone who'd been on the street had seen Emily go down and also recognized one of the people riding in one of the cars... that person had called the police, which had led to the location of the people who'd killed their sister. Then they'd been arrested and after being sentenced, they'd been forced to attend Emily's funeral by the courts.

Every single man who'd walked in had looked sullen and angry until Kate and Nate had stormed up and started beating on their legs.

They had screamed and cried for a long time, calling all of those men _murderers_ and demanding that they bring their sister back. By the time they were taken away, every person who'd been arrested had turned bone white. They'd all looked spooked and revolted with themselves... because whether they wanted to admit it or not, they'd murdered a teenage girl and completely shattered a family that had already been broken several years before.

Now, Kate was no different from those men: she had killed a living creature, intentional or not... evil or not.

After all, who was she to pass judgement?

She didn't have the right to pass a death sentence, let alone execute one herself!

After a few more moments of staring off into space, she sat up again and surveyed her surroundings. A pine forest was crowded behind the shore, but it didn't seem like anything living was close by. There was nothing foreboding lurking in the forest... but at the same time, there was nothing friendly, either. When Kate had slipped off the eagle's back, it had been completely dark... but in the distance, a faint glow marked the rising sun.

She had been a castaway for more than a few hours.

"Nathan must have gotten lost," Kate whispered in a small voice, biting her lip in anxiety. "He fell into the sea, too... maybe he's around here somewhere? I should go looking for him... right? But wait... when you get lost, you're supposed to stay right where you are, aren't you? Does that even apply to a situation like this? I'm not sure about anything anymore... what am I supposed to do?!_"_

After a moment of agonizing over it, she came to the conclusion that nobody would ever find her if she wandered around on her own, so she staggered towards the forest and leaned against the stump of a tree. When Kate sat down, she leaned against the tree and closed her eyes.

The world spun and she felt as though she would throw up, but at least she was alive.

Still, where was she?

This definitely wasn't anywhere even remotely close to New York... even the trees were different than what she was used to.

After a few minutes, her mind turned to the spirit inside her: if the woman's soul was still there, she wasn't telling... in fact, Kate couldn't feel her presence at all. In other words, Tauriel probably wasn't going to show up unless she needed to wave the sword around.

"Wait... Tauriel?" Kate wondered, blinking in total confusion as something came back to her. "That psycho blonde guy called me Tauriel... didn't he? If that's the case, why the heck was he looking for me if he had a ghost-thing with the same name?"

She took a long time thinking about that particular situation, but nothing about it really made sense to her: in the end, she simply gave up on it since it was probably nothing more than a very odd coincidence. Finally, after another half-hour of waiting, Kate lifted her head and nervously looked around: she could faintly recall the screech of pain that had occurred the instant before she'd fallen, and she could still see the outline of the arrow sticking out of the creature she'd been riding on.

She had left the eagle behind, completely surrounded by monsters.

Had he even survived...?

A swarm of unease immediately pressed down on her stomach and she jumped up, quelling the scream of panic that began rising inside her. After frantically looking around, the girl spotted a break in the woods not far away from her: nothing between that spot and where she was standing struck her as dangerous, so she decided to at least venture that far.

Beyond the forest was a fallow field strewn with a thicket of shrubs that had been plastered against the discolored earth.

Beyond that field was a cliff that leaned far out over a black sea.

Kate's heart skipped a beat as she approached the edge of the cliff, long hair billowing around her body as a violent ocean wind assaulted her from the side. When she came to the edge, the girl was stricken with terror: she was literally standing on the edge of a cliff that was higher than the tallest New York City skyscraper. However it was not the sheer height of the cliff that frightened her.

It was the sight of the water below her.

The ocean wasn't blue any longer... it was blacker than the night sky, but it looked _almost_ blue in its blackness.

As she followed the face of the cliff down into the water, she realized that the water itself was not black: it was perfectly clear, but so vast and deep that no light could penetrate its depths. Then, from deep within the ocean's bowels, she saw a glittering light: at first she couldn't make out what it was, but then there were more of them... small specks of light began spreading out like grains of sand. Together, the lights gathered into a faint cluster... and more of those lights began to cluster beneath the waves, shining brighter and brighter.

Like stars forming distant galaxies.

"What's wrong with this ocean?!" the albino girl cried, looking down at the sea in shick; however, when the answer hit her, vertigo made her stomach fly to the top of her throat in horror and her knees buckled. She knew what this was: she'd seen pictures of stars, nebulae, and galaxies in every class she'd ever taken. The vast thing below her was the _universe... _but how?

_Where am I...? _Kate whispered silently, dropping the sword as terror filled her large eyes; the albino girl shook her head and covered her face with both hands, knees shaking violently. _This is not_ _Earth! This is not the ocean I remember! Where the hell am I?! Where did Gwendolan go, and where is my brother? Is he safe? Where can I go? What will I do? Why did this have to happen to me? Isn't somebody going to help me?_"

"I want to go home," Kate whimpered softly, staring at the ground with blank eyes; tears tumbled down her cheeks and she choked back a sob, struggling to breathe normally. However, she was going into shock and couldn't hold it back. She hugged her knees, buried her face in her arms, and wept. "I want to go home... I want to wake up! Someone, get me out of this nightmare."

However, when she lifted her head again, the ocean still stretched out before her like the universe: she felt as though she were gazing _down_ on a night sky, which was extremely unsettling. The galaxies were turning slowly in the water, and in time... Kate calmed down and managed to collect her thoughts. Absentmindedly she gazed down at the stars in the water. **S**he sat there staring out at the sea until the sun had risen high in the sky.

What kind of world was this?

Where was she?

So many unanswerable questions had filled her mind.

There was Gwendolan and the strange creatures that had attacked her school, for starters: none of them were from any species on Earth, although the birds had genuinely looked like overgrown eagles. The only thing that made sense to her was that they'd probably come from another world... but the biggest question was _why. _And _how.  
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_What was that psycho thinking, bringing me here? _Kate wondered, looking at the sea. _He said it was dangerous for me to stay at school, but look at where I ended up! And why did those monsters attack me in the first place? It was like something clean out of my nightmares... like something right out of my own mind._

From the moment she'd first set her eyes on Gwendolan, nothing had made sense: her grasp on the way the world worked had been severely shaken and twisted around because of him She had no idea what was going on, but she did know one thing: she and her brother were lost and completely alone. Gwendolan had kidnapped her out of nowhere... along with her brother.

He'd brought them to this strange world without sparing a second to think about their lives.

When the sun started rising and shadows began to lengthen, Kate slowly stood up and shook the rest of the sand out of her clothes: complaining about her life in silence wasn't going to solve anything, so she gripped the sword and hesitantly marched off into the forest without sparing another glance at the freakish ocean. She didn't have her coat with her, but it wasn't all that cold: she'd somehow ended up in place with a warmer climate than New York.

The forest around her looked like it'd been hit by a hurricane.

There were broken branches strewn all about, and entire trees had been completely unearthed. The forest wasn't all that deep, though, and when she emerged she found herself standing at the edge of a wide marsh. However, upon closer inspection, she realized that it wasn't a marsh at all: it was a field that had once been farmland. Beyond the field was a river, and beyond it was a cluster of strange-looking mountains.

There were no telephone poles or power lines, no television antennas, and every single roof on the houses had been tiled in an old-fashioned manner.

The village had once been ringed by a line of trees, most of which were toppled over. Kate pressed a hand to her chest and let out a sigh of relief: it wasn't the sight of the buildings that relieved her... it was the fact that there were most likely people who could tell her where she'd ended up. Some distance away, she spotted people working in the remains of the farmland: she couldn't make out any details, but they didn't look like monsters.

If she ignored the complete lack of telephone poles, she could probably pretend that this was nothing more than an ordinary backwoods town.

Kate hesitantly began making her way towards the people in the fields, but when she drew close to them... it rapidly became apparent they were not at all the kind of people she was used to seeing. All of the men were burly, but oddly slender at the same time... and they all had pointed ears... in fact, all of the woman had the same pointed ears, as well. However, the one feature they all seemed to share was their long blonde hair.

When she was close enough to see their individual features, the girl realized that they weren't Caucasian or even any type of foreigner she'd ever heard of.

Their eyes were all slanted upwards, they all had high cheekbones, and their clothing wasn't that dissimilar from traditional Japanese garb.

However, when one of the men looked up and saw Kate, he blinked and said something to the group before pointing in her direction; after a few moments, he shouted something at her... but the girl couldn't really make it out. The eight or so men and women immediately turned and looked at her, so Kate acknowledged them with a little wave: she couldn't think of what else to do.

A burly blonde-haired man with a roiling beard scrambled up the bank and lumbered over to where she was standing.

Surprisingly, his ears were normal.

"Good afternoon," he stated in a deep voice, looking down at her white hair and violet eyes. "Are you lost, lass?"

Kate registered the question with a deep sense of relief since the guy spoke English.

This guy had a friendly look to him, and his jade green eyes were handsome.

"I was over there," Kate stammered, looking behind her with a shaken expression. "I came from the cliff..."

"The cliff?" the man asked, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Kate opened her mouth and started to say she'd come from _New York City_, but then she paused and changed her mind: she'd figured it would be a good idea to explain her circumstances, but she doubted they would find anything she said believable. As she stood there trying to think of what to say, the man folded his arms and looked her up and down with a calculating expression.

"From the look of ya, you're not from around here, are ya?" he inquired, tilting his head to the side. "Are you part of the traveling caravans?"

She didn't know how to respond.

"Well, um... I think so?" Kate squeaked, shrugging with a frightened expression. "I... I don't know how I ended up here... I... can't... um, r-remember?"

He stared at her with a quirked eyebrow before he noticed the sword and stiffened, eyes sharpening in an instant.

"You're an elf," the man grunted, eyes narrowing when the girl gawked at him in confusion. "What's an elf doing in these parts?"

"Um, sorry, but I'm not an elf... I'm just a regular girl," Kate asked, warily stepping backwards when the burly man glared at her: he looked almost as if he were comprehending something that she wasn't, and that really made her nervous. "Sir, where am I, exactly?"

"What have you got there?" he inquired, staring at the sword and completely ignoring her question. "Looks important."

"It's a sword," Kate hesitantly replied, looking down at the sword with a worried expression. "Someone... gave it to me."

"Who?" the man inquired, closing the distance between them.

"Well, it was given to me by a man named Gwendolan," the albino stammered, taking another step back. "Is he from around here?"

"I don't know," the man stated in a low voice, looking down at her pale face. "Looks heavy, though... I'll take care of it for you."

The fierce expression in his eyes didn't assuage her, and she didn't like the slick way he was talking to her now.

"It's okay," Kate whispered, clasping the sword to her chest and shaking her head. "All I really want to know is where I am. What is this place?"

"This is Eriador..." the blonde giant explained, leering at her with an unsettling gaze, "and quite frankly, I don't want an elf like you waving a dangerous thing like that around... especially if you don't even know where you are. Now, hand it over."

"I was told not to," Kate protested, mouth trembling in fear. "I... I'm not supposed to let anybody touch it."

"Hand it over to me!" the man barked, making her flinch backwards in fright; Kate blinked several times like a startled owl before hesitantly holding out out the sword. The giant instantly snatched it from her and examined it. "I knew it... this is Elven work... still want to deny what you are?"

Kate didn't even notice that another man was slowly creeping behind her.

When the blonde nodded at him, the one who'd snuck around the albino abruptly wrapped a thick arm around her neck and grabbed her wrist, easily twisting the slender limb behind her back. Katherine squeaked and struggled to move, but the attempt merely sent several jolts of pain surging through her nerves: she felt hot breath on the side of her cheek, making her shiver.

"Stop it!" Kate squeaked, struggling to breathe. "Ow! Please, stop! You're hurting my arm!"

"I'll do what I want," the man sneered. "Be a good girl until we figure out who you're working for."

The albino girl's eyes widened when her body filled with cold energy, and quite suddenly she was moving against her will yet again. She twisted her wrist in a professional manner and bent the man's thumb before ducking out of his grasp and nailing him in the throat with a fierce hand-chop; with an impossible amount of speed, Katie whipped around and snatched the sword out of the other man's hand before leaping away from them.

"Gods above!" a woman gasped, eyes widening in shock. "That girl can fight?!"

"Just who are you people?!" Kate shrieked, knees shaking and eyes large with terror. "Where exactly am I?!"

"I knew it! The elf is a spy," the blonde giant snarled, looking at the other men. "Seize her at once! The sword is only an ornament!"

"No way!" Kate whimpered, glancing around with a terrified expression; more people were gathering around them, but when the stranger took a step towards her, the girl drew the sword with a flash. "No! Stop! Don't come any closer! Please!"

"What the hell?!" the man squawked, staring in surprise as everyone around her froze. Kate eyed them with a wary expression and hesitantly backed way; however, the moment she turned to run away, a redheaded woman charged forward with an enormous shovel in her hands. When she let out an angry war cry and hefted the weapon, Kate felt her throat lock up since her arms began to lift the sword of their own accord.

"No... NO!" Kate shrieked, staring at the woman with enormous eyes. "STOP! DON'T COME CLOSER! STAY BACK! STOP, TAURIEL!"

Kate squeezed her eyes shut just as the sword came down; she heard several gasps, but there was nothing but the sound of a frantic woman crying beneath her. When Kate opened her eyes again, tears dripped onto the terrified woman's face: the blade had been caught by the wooden handle of the shovel.

Without another word, Kate jerked the weapon free and bolted.

"Don't follow me!" she wailed, sprinting away at top speed. "I don't want to hurt any of you, so leave me alone!"

However, the command went ignored... and someone came charging after her on horseback.

Kate shrieked when he gripped the back of her blazer and yanked the girl off her feet.

"Don't worry, milady," an elderly male voice chuckled, startling her severely; when she twisted her head, the girl found herself staring at an old man with white hair, a grey beard, and the brightest blue eyes she'd ever seen. He was clothed in a grey robe and a pointed hat, and he was smiling in a somewhat carefree manner despite the shouts that erupted behind them. "There will be time for explanations later. I've come to find you on behalf of my good friend, Gwaihir."

"Who are you?!" Kate croaked, kicking her legs until he set her on the back of his horse. "And who is... Gwaihir?"

"My name is Gandalf the Grey, dear child," the old man chuckled, leaning forward into the movement of the horse. "Gwaihir, however, is a most curious being who made an even more curious statement about you... the girl he was commanded to ferry across the Gulf of Lune to the land of the Elves."

"What is going on here?" Kate groaned, feeling as though she were getting a migraine. "Where is my brother?!"

The old man merely chuckled and didn't respond.

So, in the end, Kate was left dangling on the back of a horse with no clue as to what the hell was going on. Sooner or later, not knowing anything would probably become normal for her... because even though she didn't yet know it, she had arrived to a place that was merely thought of as fiction where she was born and raised. This place held more wonders and terrors than anything she could have ever imagined. This place was the source of every nightmare she'd had for the last six months.

Maybe even beyond that.

So, where exactly was this place?

Well, Katherine didn't yet know it, but she had been dragged clean into a world where nothing was familiar.

A world called Middle Earth.

Now, what's that phrase that all the Disney movies start with? Oh, that's right.

Once upon a Ring...


	7. Chapter 7: A Whole New World

**PART TWO: MIDDLE EARTH**

"Wherever there is Light, Darkness will be lurking nearby."  
><strong><strong>—<strong>Edgar Allen Poe**—****

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter Seven: <strong>**A Whole New World  
><strong>

"U-um, sir?!" Kate cried, clinging to Gandalf's robes with shaking muscles since the movement of the horse kept throwing her around, "can we please stop this thing and take a break?! All I want to know is what's going on here!"

"I'm afraid there's no time for that," the old man chuckled, making her wince. "Someone needs my help."

"Who?!" Katherine wondered, biting her lip. "Who could possibly need your help?"

"Someone of great importance," the grey-clad man laughed, speaking in a gentle manner. "You'll soon see, child, so do not fret."

The albino girl sighed and looked around: they were riding along the beach she'd first woken up on, but they were going in the opposite direction now.

However, when the man steered his steed through a small copse of trees, an explosion of feathers and a deafening animal screech made the horse rear and start bucking with no warning whatsoever. Kate flailed and struggled to hold onto Gandalf, but her grip was torn free after only a few moments and she went flying off the horse's back. She landed on her side with a squeal of pain, but that was the least of her worries: in front of her was the eagle she'd been riding on.

It was lying on it's back with an enormous arrow sticking out of it's abdomen: the girl's shoulders stiffened when it's large yellow eye fixed on her.

"Oh, God," she whimpered, staring at the arrow with horrified eyes. "Is it... is it going to be okay?!"

Her eyes widened as she slowly stared at the injured creature. His gold and bronze feathers glistened in the sun as he twisted and writhed, letting loose some deafening bird squalls. The eagle still hadn't lowered his gaze from hers, and his yellow eyes were almost angry. Anything else she could have seen was obliterated by Gandalf stepping in front of her.

"Silly girl…" the robed man chuckled, causing Kate to fall backwards with a squeak. "Oh, dear... are you alright?"

After parting her messy white hair like a curtain, she glanced up at him with a pale face: his eyes were a stormy blue-grey—like the Atlantic ocean on a rainy day. She nodded silently, but flinched backward when the old man offered her a hand. She was utterly confounded as to why he would still be helping her, but after searching his face for any trace of trickery she decided she could trust him a little. Once she'd taken his hand and was standing upright, he saw her school outfit and quirked a brow.

"Thanks for everything you did, but I-I, uh…" she whispered shakily, turning to walk away. "I should be going now."

"May I ask why you are dressed so peculiarly?" the old man asked, straightening his glasses and narrowing his eyes at her. "I've never seen such strange garb before, even amongst the Elves... and that, my dear, is something I find to be quite unusual."

"What do you mean?" Katherine scoffed, turning to leave. "This is the standard school uniform for Ivy Ridge Academy, you weirdo."

"Weirdo?" the man repeated, staring at her receding back in confusion; however, the girl froze when a terrible suspicion dawned on her and she spun around again, looking at the man much more carefully. Her face drained of color as she took in his appearance: he was wearing black and grey robes, but there was a staff in his hand and an oddly-pointed hat on his head—complete with a small buckle. He was dressed up as a wizard, and normally, that would have made her laugh... but frighteningly, a mythological beast was writhing in pain directly behind him.

Plus, in a way, his outfit looked way too authentic for a mere cosplay.

"Are you a _wizard?"_ Kate squeaked in alarm, eyes becoming huge. "Like, a real wizard?!"

"I _am _indeed," the man replied, staring at her with a frown, "although, it's not very surprising since I am well-known around these parts."

"What the fu—?!" Kate began to shriek, then cut herself off by forcing a shrill laugh out of her throat. "Okay, u-um, all good stories are long, and mine's pretty long, too, so I'll see you later! I've got to go find my brother, so, uh… bye!"

"Pray, you haven't answered my question," the man called, chuckling in amusement when she began to walk away. "I would very much like to hear it."

Kate froze and reluctantly looked over her shoulder, shaking involuntarily as tears began to fill her eyes. She really didn't know what was going on yet, but as far as she was aware, she wasn't in Kansas anymore. Until she got a good grasp on the situation, she didn't want to deal with any medieval-looking loonies, especially since she was obviously witch-material.

Being burned at a stake could become a very big possibility if she claimed to have traveled back in time,

Plus, it was even more likely since she had uncontrollable visions that popped up at random.

All in all, Kate was in some very serious trouble.

"Like I said, it's long story—and I honestly don't want to explain myself to a complete stranger! So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head back to, um…" Kate trailed off and unsuccessfully tried to mask her fear as she looked around. "Okay, enough is enough! Will someone please just tell me what's going on?! Where the hell am I, and where the heck is my brother?! Why am I here?!"

"I'll tell you where you are," the robed man smugly offered, "but only if you tell me where you attained those unusual clothes."

"Blackmailing jerk!" Kate snapped, glaring up at him with folded arms. "First of all, who the hell are you?"

"I am Gandalf the Grey," the man calmly explained, smiling right back at her with a twinkle in his eyes. "That is all you need to know."

"Then you don't need to know my life story," the girl retorted, turning around to walk away. "Goodbye."

"Please, at least tell me why you are dressed so strangely," he sighed, appearing in front of her out of nowhere. "That, and your name."

"How did you do that?!" Kate whispered, staring at him with enormous unblinking eyes before she whirled around; he was no longer standing where he'd been a split second ago, which was incredibly weird. "What the hell?! How?! This isn't normal!"

"I will explain everything once I understand the situation myself," Gandalf gently replied, making the girl frown at him. "At the moment, I'm afraid I don't understand much more than you, but I won't deny that I'm curious about who you are."

Kate weighed her options with a pale face: she looked more than a little sick, and she appeared to be genuinely afraid, but she eventually gave in.

"My name is Katherine Ashley Sanders," the small girl muttered, shakily gesturing down at her clothes. "Where I come from, this is the standard outfit for girls who want to learn new things."

"I see," the man murmured, staring at her with raised eyebrows, "and, where are you from?"

"That's not important right now," Kate muttered, shaking her head with a dejected expression. "the biggest problem I'm dealing with is that I have absolutely _no_ idea how to get back there, and my twin brother got lost on the way here."

"I see…" the man repeated, sliding his arms into his sleeves with a frown. "That is a fairly interesting story."

Kate was perturbed by his unaffected reaction.

Instead of being shocked by her wild story, he seemed to be taking her explanation well.

"So, what now?" the albino girl asked, brushing her damp skirt free of some more sand.

"I must attend to Gwaihir," the so-called-wizard sighed, hurrying over to the flailing eagle. "This shall only take a moment."

"So, where am I exactly?" Kate inquired, folding her arms and shakily following him. "Also, where did this big guy come from?"

"The Great Eagles have no beginning, unless it lies with the creation of Middle Earth itself," Gandalf murmured, climbing on top of the creature's stomach and gripping the arrow, "and if they have an end, it will be when this world perishes, for they suffer as the land does. They, the dwarves, and a few others are the true inhabitants of this land. They lived here before all others: their world was unchanging until the first elves sailed over the sea on their silver ships."

Kate blinked and did an extreme double-take.

"Elves? Dwarves?" she asked, cocking her head to the side in total disbelief. "That guy you saved me from called me an elf... but I honestly thought he was just crazy. Elves don't exist, and neither do dwarves, aside from in fairy tales... same goes for wizards and giant eagles."

"My dear, are you certain you do not want to tell me where you're from?" Gandalf inquired, staring at her with a worried expression; the girl backed up a step when he kept his eyes locked on her own. "Everyone, no matter who they are, would think you were insane for saying something like that."

"This is so backwards," the girl whispered, clutching her hair with both hands. "Are you seriously saying that they exist?! That they're real?!"

"Of course they are," Gandalf snorted with a look of firm amusement. "Dwarves and elves have been around long before humans ever settled down in these lands."

Then, lowering his eyes to the arrow, he tensed his shoulders and heaved it out of the eagle's chest. The animal screeched so loudly that Kate covered her ears, but after a moment she felt guilt washing over her: he had gotten injured because she'd refused to listen to his instructions. Then again, the moment she remembered the wraiths, her legs started shaking all over again.

"Hey," Kate stammered, sidling closer to the grey-robed man and watching as he held his staff against the wound on Gwaihir's chest. "Is he going to be okay? What was he hurt with?"

"A poisoned orc arrow," Gandalf muttered, closing his eyes when the knob on his staff began glowing with white light; Kate gasped and stared at the wood, but then her eyes flicked to the injury on the animal's body. It was slowly beginning to close, and the flesh was knitting itself back together right in front of her eyes. "I don't know where it came from, since orcs are highly unusual in these lands... but then again, it seems as though today is full of unusual meetings."

"It wasn't an orc!" Kate cried, shivering violently when the wizard looked at her. "It was a wraith riding a dragon that did it!"

Gandalf's face went slack and his eyes became so intense that she stepped away from him with fear on her face.

"What did you say?" the robed man demanded, removing his staff from Gwaihir's chest and sliding down to the ground; with haste in his steps, he hurried around to the eagle's head and started murmuring something. The creature blinked and gave a slight nod, which made the wizard's shoulders twitch in alarm. "This is... I don't know what to think."

"This child is your charge, Gandalf," Gwaihir suddenly stated, making the girl jump in startled surprise. "I was told to ferry her to Forlindon until you arrived there. I wasn't expecting a situation like this, however."

"Who was it who told you to ferry her?" the grey-clad man inquired, staring at the giant beast with unblinking eyes. "Who could command one such as yourself?"

"He is only known as the Gatekeeper," the eagle replied, closing his golden eyes. "I was told to protect this girl no matter the cost."

Gandalf merely stared at him, but then his gaze swiveled to the white-haired girl who standing behind him.

"My dear, I think it would be in your best interest if we stayed together until I fully know what's going on," he finally stated, going back to healing the eagle's wound. "I was on my way to the Shire to see an old friend of mine until I found this magnificent creature."

"What if I say I don't want to?" Kate inquired, staring at him with nervous pink eyes. "What if I say I won't go anywhere with you? What will you do?"

The old man turned and stared at her, blinking a few times.

"Why, nothing," he said in a simple tone, making Kate do yet another double take. "I will not force you: I simply believe that it would be safer if you came with me. Something about this reeks of magic, and I find it highly alarming that such an event is occurring now. It's a very odd coincidence indeed... and did you not tell me that you have a brother who went missing?"

"Yes, I did!" Kate stammered, eyes lighting up when she thought of Nathan. "When we fell into the sea, my brother and I got separated!"

"Well, perhaps you'll have a better chance at finding him if you come with me to the Shire," Gandalf sighed, shoulders wearily slumping after he'd slid off of the great Eagle's chest; with a thunderous crash, the giant bird flipped itself into an upright position and lowered its head. "Oh, there is no need for such formality, Gwaihir..."

"I am in your debt," the creature stated fiercely, lowering its head and regarding the old man with a large golden eye. "When the time comes that you need help, I will return this kindness and come to your aid. I thank you."

"Not at all," the grey wizard chuckled, blue eyes twinkling in amusement. "I just did what any old wizard would do."

Gwaihir nodded once before he turned and spread his wings: Kate covered her face when they came down, because the movement was accompanied by a blast of wind that nearly sent her flying off her feet. A few more flaps and the eagle was taking off, flying majestically into the air and out over the ocean she'd fallen into: by this time, the sun was high in the sky.

"What now?" Kate wondered, shivering as she looked around. "How am I supposed to get back home?"

"We'll find a way," Gandalf soothed, holding out a hand with a crooked smile; the girl's eyes widened with a jolt and she had a flash of Miss McKinley grinning at her, which made her heart churn almost painfully. "Come along, my dear... my wagon isn't very far away from here."

Katherine stared at him, not knowing what to do... so, before she could let herself think, feel, or do anything at all, she silently took his hand.

"Fair warning," the albino girl mumbled, averting her eyes, "I have no clue what's going on right now."

When he shook her hand and let out a laugh, however, she turned and stared at him in total confusion.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," Gandalf stated firmly, giving her an even more pleasant smile. "Follow me."

When he left her side and wandered through the trees, she didn't know if she wanted to follow him... but against her better judgement, she followed him anyway and felt kind of amazed when she found herself staring at a small wooden cart with a dark-brown horse snacking on the abundant grass. When Gandalf slid onto the front of the wagon and patted the wooden seat beside him, she was uncertain about whether she should get up there. Her school uniform fluttered in the breeze as she stared at the horse.

"That thing won't tip over, will it?" she hesitantly asked, looking at the wooden wheels with large eyes. "It won't break, right?"

"Not at all, milady," Gandalf chuckled, giving her a nod. "I've used this cart for many years, and it's never lost a wheel even once."

Kate still had her doubts, but she decided to just go along with it and climbed onto the wagon, sliding onto the seat beside the old man.

With a flick of the reigns and a small laugh from the wizard, the cart took off along the grass and Kate clutched her skirt with tense fingers.

_I hope Nate is all right,_ she silently whispered, looking at the enormous green trees with curious eyes. _This place is so colorful... even the sun is colorful._

"Where exactly do you come from, Katherine?" Gandalf asked, quirking a bushy brow when she glanced at him. "I cannot deny that I'm quite curious."

"You already know the answer to that question," she retorted, unwilling to disclose her history to him. "I'm from very, very far away from here."

"Ah..." Gandalf sighed, catching on almost instantly. "Well, do you and your brother miss your family?"

When Katherine flinched and slowly lowered her baby pink eyes with a contorted expression, the wizard realized that he must have hit a particularly bad nerve. However, he was rather surprised by how quickly her expression smoothed out again.

"Aside from Nathan, I don't _have_ a family," Katie quietly replied, grinning at him in a dangerous manner. "There's nobody for me to miss."

"That's a respectable answer," he murmured, leaning back and staring at the sky. "Although... not a very pleasant one."

For a long time, the two of them sat side by side together in silence: the only sounds were the creaking wheels of the wagon and the the horse clopping away in front of them.

"It's because I'm afraid of you that I'm acting mean," Kate finally admitted , staring up at the sky with a tormented expression: the man frowned deeply, especially since it didn't look right on the face of someone so young. "I'm not clever, or funny, or brave… and because I was born looking a little bit different than everyone else, people who were supposed to protect me ended up hurting me on purpose. Because of the way I look... and all of the issues that make me who I am... I've been forced to go through things that would make your heart sick if I ever told you about them. Being afraid of the world is natural, but being afraid of yourself is a different story."

"We're all afraid of something," the wizard stated kindly. "Whatever you've experienced must not have been very easy, especially since Gwaihir is involved... I never would have thought to lay eyes on a Great Eagle. Their kind only show themselves when a great change is about to take place."

Kate winced and lowered her eyes.

"What's the name of this place?" she asked in a small voice, staring at the ground when he looked at her. "This world, I mean."

Gandalf's eyes sharpened and he stared at her a little more intently.

"Now, how could you not know a thing like that?" he inquired, pulling a pipe out of his robes and lighting it. "You are a very odd girl indeed."

"I don't... remember," Kate stammered, finally coming up with an excuse. "I don't remember much of anything aside from my twin brother: all I know is that somehow I ended up falling into the ocean, and when I woke up, I was all alone. I can't remember anything."

"What do you mean?" Gandalf asked, looking ahead of them with serious blue eyes. "Did you suffer an injury to your head?"

"I don't know," Kate stated, trying to keep the lie going; her face was twitching, though, because she completely sucked at telling falsehoods. "All I know is that I can't remember much of anything aside from a few details about myself and my brother."

The old man remained silent: she could tell from his expression that he was suspicious of her explanation, but he didn't seem eager to press the situation and find out the truth. Something she was grateful for, since she didn't have a clue how she was going to explain that she and her brother had been kidnapped from a completely different world. They rode together in silence for a long time, but Kate was actually quite amazed by the changing scenery: after a while, however, they stopped and Gandalf gave her some bread and cheese lunch. Not that the girl was complaining: it was actually really good despite being simple, and the cheese tasted totally different than the processed stuff she was used to back home.

After that, they climbed into the wagon once again and Gandalf flicked the reigns.

It was only when the sun started going down that he spoke up for the first time in several hours.

"We're going to be riding on through the night," he stated simply, making he girl look at him. "I have fallen a little bit behind in schedule, so I'm afraid I cannot afford to rest."

"That's fine," Kate yawned, rubbing her eyes as she looked at the forests and mountains in the distance. "Wherever I am, it's a lot prettier than where I came from... that much I can admit."

Gandalf turned his head and stared at her when she sleepily closed her eyes, head lolling from side to side with the motion of the wagon: however, his suspicious expression softened in sympathy when a rock sent her body sliding against his arm. However, she didn't move... and it took the old wizard a moment to realize that she was already asleep.

"What an odd girl," he muttered, puffing on his pipe as he eyed her. "Very odd indeed."

Truthfully, from the angle he was looking at her, she didn't really look like anything more than an exhausted child.

However, Gandalf had already figured out that she was different... he had been able to tell just by looking at her eyes. After all, normal children didn't have white hair, white eyebrows, white eyelashes, and eyes the color of the early morning sky... even her pupils were unusual, since he'd seen them contract into catlike slits several times since he'd met her. Still, for now he planned to go along with the story she'd given him: after all, if she was keeping quiet about herself, she probably had a good reason.

Still, his thoughts soon drifted away from the girl beside him and landed on the people he'd been making this journey to see.

"Hard to believe Bilbo's in his nineties already," Gandalf mumbled, glancing at the glittering sky with a sigh; when Kate drowsily opened her eyes and looked up at him with a sleep-filled gaze, the wizard smiled a little and nodded at her. "You know, my dear, I think you'll enjoy Bilbo's birthday party... after all, Hobbits really know how to throw some grand festivities."

"Hobbits?" Kate mumbled sleepily, giving the man a sleepy stare that soon began to glaze over; her eyes fluttered shut not long after. "I've heard that word before... a new movie called _The Hobbit_ just came out, right? Maybe I'm just dreaming about the Lord of the Rings movie... I must have fallen asleep in class... right? Well, maybe I'll pay Mary Poppins a visit after this... I mean, I've always wanted to... dance with a... penguin..."

Her voice soon trailed off into a dazed mumble, which led to her head sliding back down against his arm as she fell back asleep. Gandalf blinked at her in total confusion for a few moments, but when her silver hair slid across her pale face, he sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Then he tilted his head back, looking at the darkening sky as he pondered the situation he'd found himself in.


End file.
